Daughter Of A Warrior
by bulmablue-eyes
Summary: Sakura comes to earth after being kidnapped by Furiza, and meets some new frineds I wonder who?. And what's her connection to Gohan and Vegeta? Read to find out.
1. Sakura's New Home

Daughter of a Warrior  
  
  
  
Chapter One - Sakura's New Home  
  
Sakura sighed as she packed her clothes and belongings into a large trunk. Today was to be her last day at home. Her father had been contacted by Furiza, a great Saiya-jin trainer, who had said that he had seen her powers, and wished to train her to the extent of her power.  
  
So, her mother Ayane, her father Kanata, her sister Kasubi and herself were all going to live in Furiza's magnificent spaceship of a home. Sakura did not want to go. Her father, who was also a very powerful Saiya-jin, had trained her since she could first remember, and she did not want to change that now, and she had told her father so. Also, she had a feeling deep inside of her, almost like somebody greater than mere Saiya-jins was telling her something important. It was telling her not to trust him, not to listen to Furiza's calling. But, her parents would not listen to her, and continued arranging the move anyway.  
  
Sakura had been just four years of age, when two Nameks had come to her planet in search of a Saiya-jin named Kakarot. Nobody had been willing to tell the Nameks of Kakarot's whereabouts, and when they had asked her father, Kanata had powered up. They had simply laughed at him, and asked him again.  
  
"I'd never betray him!" Kanata snarled "It may have been many years since I last saw him, but I would never give my own brother the death sentence!" He roared the last two words, and threw himself at the nearest Namek. The Namek simply brushed him away with a single punch, which knocked him unconscious against the wall, and a sneer. They then prepared to destroy the entire planet.  
  
Ayane and Kasubi had tried to stop them, but had failed just like her father had done. Sakura was overcome with a sudden surge of rage, and her power level increased dramatically to over 100,000, which, although not as high as a Super Saiya-jin, was still alarmingly powerful for such a pint- sized little girl. She had begun by delivering a powerful flying kick to the larger Namek's face, and he fell back, clearly startled by her sudden increase in power. They had continued to fight like this for some time, until Sakura had decided to end the battle. She had raised both hands, palms up, into the air and began gathering her energy. "Destructo Disk!" she had yelled, and a large disk of energy had formed in the palms of her hands. She delivered the final blow, throwing the disks at each of the Nameks, and so destroying them before they destroyed her entire home planet.  
  
How Furiza had heard of this, Sakura did not know. This just made her fear him even more.  
  
The next morning, Kanata, Ayane, Kasubi and, of course, Sakura said goodbye to her friends, and they were off, not to return, they hoped, until Sakura was as powerful as a Saiya-jin could possibly be.  
  
The journey was long and tiring. For hundreds of miles they flew across the land and through the galaxy in their space pods, stopping every now and then for rest, food and drink. Sakura ate the most, as always, and Kanata said, as he often did, that she was just like Kakarot had been for the short time that he had known him. Her father often spoke of a Saiya-jin named Kakarot, and how he also enjoyed his food in extremely large doses. She did not know about their family tie. She had been too far away two years earlier when Kanata had told the Nameks that he was Kakarot's brother. However, Sakura had never met Kakarot, and she often doubted his actual existence.  
  
When the family arrived at Furiza's home, it was already far into the night, and they were all far too tired to be awed by the size of Furiza's home, which was so large, it could easily have been mistaken for a small city.  
  
Sakura stepped forward, and the door was opened almost immediately. The man standing in front of then was clearly not a Saiya-jin. He had pale green skin, and leaf green hair, tied back in a plait. He was wearing jewels in his ears and on his forehead.  
  
"Welcome my dears, I'm Zarbon," he said slyly, in way of greeting. "Please, please, do come in." Zarbon stepped back to let Sakura and her family into Furiza's home. They obliged, and he shut the door quickly behind them, making them all start when it slammed. "My apologies," Zarbon near whispered, bowing low, "My master has many enemies who wish to prevent him from training promising young Saiya-jins such as yourself. We consider it best to keep our home tightly locked."  
  
There was suddenly a loud bang coming from deep within Furiza's home. Sakura looked questioningly towards Zarbon. "It appears that my master is home." He said uncomfortably, noticing her looking at him. "I can now take you to meet him." Zarbon beckoned for them to follow him, and so they did.  
  
Furiza threw himself down into his chair just as Zarbon lead Sakura and her family into the room.  
  
Furiza was a slightly short manlike Changeling with a large purple and white head with a large horn sticking out on either side. His face was white and pink, and the rest of his skin was all white. He was wearing purple and gold armour, and he had three toes on each foot, which closely resembled hands.  
  
Zarbon left Sakura and her family by the door while he lowered himself onto one knee at his master's feet.  
  
"Dodoria!" Furiza shouted, tapping his fingernails against the arm of his chair. "Wine! Now!" Furiza's orders were short, but they had their desired effect. A short, fat and some what lumpy man, if you could call him a man, with bright pink skin rushed up to Furiza and poured him some red wine into a glass. Furiza sat swirling the wine round and round in his glass as he sat there, thinking angrily.  
  
"Bad - er - day, master?" Zarbon asked hesitantly, looking up at Furiza.  
  
"What do you think, fool?" Furiza bellowed at him, from just a metres distance.  
  
"What is bothering you, master?" Zarbon asked  
  
"You don't really need to ask me that now, do you Zarbon?" Furiza said slyly, and Zarbon shook his head slightly. "It is Kakarot of course. It seems he is destined to be a thorn in my side. First his group of warriors destroyed Raditz, his own brother, and no doubt at his command. Then, well then he and his little gang defeated Vegeta and Nappa. And now, now he has defeated two more of my specially trained Saiya-jins. They were mere third class Saiya-jins, but still powerful. You wait Zarbon, I will yet destroy Kakarot, you just." It was at this point that Furiza noticed Sakura. Kanata was looking angrily at Furiza, trying to pull his family away while rooted to the spot on which he stood, overcome with shock and betrayal.  
  
"Ah, the young heroine herself." He said happily, a smirk emerging on his face. "I hope you like it here Sakura, because you are never going to leave." As if controlled by Furiza's words, the door at the end of the chamber closed automatically. "More wine, Dodoria!" Furiza added suddenly, draining the wine from his glass.  
  
Sakura was lead to a cell deep in Furiza's spaceship, where she was ordered to change her clothes into uniform Saiya-jin armour.  
  
Sakura looked around her cell, trying to find some way of escape, but there was none. All that was in her cell was a low, metal bed, a toilet and sink behind a curtain, a small desk and metal stool, a shelf, a small bedside table, a dirty mirror and a large punch bag. She looked into the mirror, and a frightened girl of six looked back at her. Her brown hair was tied back in a plait down to her shoulder blades, her green eyes were red and swollen from crying, and her pale face was shining with tears. Sakura walked up to the punch bag, and began to train. 


	2. To Namek

Chapter Two - To Namek  
  
It was over a year since Furiza had captured Sakura, when he himself came to her cell.  
  
"Come my child," he said to her, standing at the open door of her cell. "You may finally have the privilege of fighting me in person before we leave for Planet Namek. Then I shall summon the Dragon, and finally be granted immortality!" Sakura gasped and backed against the wall of her cell. She was just seven years old, and did not see how she could possibly defeat the monster standing before her.  
  
"Your family shall be there to see how much you have developed under my watchful eye. Come!" Sakura hesitated, and Furiza grabbed hold of her tail tightly, preventing any movement on her part. He pulled her all the way to the training area by her tail, and Sakura screamed in pain all the way. "That is your weakness, girl." Furiza hissed at her on the way, "You are never willing to do as you are told. I allow you to see your family, and you show me no gratitude."  
  
In the ring, Sakura stood facing Furiza, trembling with fear. She shifted her body into a fighter's stance and raised her fists, ready to attack.  
  
Furiza leapt forward and lashed out at Sakura with his tail and fingernails. Bruised and aching, Sakura leapt up into the air and landed in the corner of the ring. "Are you tiring little girl?" Furiza called across the ring at her, "Because I am not even getting warmed up yet."  
  
Sakura looked across the ring at him and blinked, a look of false surprise on her face. She wiped blood from her mouth and eyes and smiled. "No. Way." She said angrily, putting long breaks between her words. She raised her arms high into the air and moved suddenly into a series of lightening fast forward flips, and plunged her feet into Furiza's stomach. Caught by surprise, Furiza staggered back several feet, the wind knocked out of him.  
  
Furiza was deeply angered. He threw himself forward and attacked Sakura with no mercy, who was unable to defend herself against his brutal attacks. Furiza lifted Sakura by the front of her Saiya-jin armour, and threw her against the wall of the room. Sakura's unconscious form fell to the floor.  
  
Furiza smiled and walked calmly from the ring.  
  
That night, Furiza's ship departed for Namek. Sakura stayed in her cell, training kicks and punches on her new punch bag. Her old one had been ruined when she had punched a hole through it in a temper, an act for which she had been severely punished.  
  
All night, she trained, completing an impressive series of kicks and punches, and eventually kicked the punch bag so hard that the screws were ripped from the ceiling and the punch bag itself slammed into the wall opposite. Sakura sighed, and walked over to her mirror. A large bruise had appeared on her face where Furiza had kicked her. She touched it, and winced. Although it was very painful, Sakura knew that she was lucky that this was the extent of her injuries.  
  
Sakura stared at her reflection, lost in thought. Why was this happening to her and her family? She was just seven years old, and, although she seemed mature and brave on the outside, inside she was just a seven year old girl standing in the middle of a crowded room screaming and crying at the top of her lungs with nobody even looking up, let alone attempting to comfort her. All she wanted was to be free. Tired and weary, she lay down to sleep.  
  
Several days later, Sakura was awoken from an extremely long and rejuvenating sleep by a great shudder. The ship had landed on Namek.  
  
What happened immediately after they landed, Sakura did not know. She was too busy focusing on a fabulous dream she had had. It was a marvellous dream, a dream of escape. Sakura sat bolt upright. 


	3. Sakura's Rebellion

Chapter Three - Sakura's Rebellion  
  
Around one hour later a very tall and muscular Namek came to Sakura's cell to take her for her training session. She had never seen this particular Namek before, even though she had already fought most of Furiza's squad of Nameks, and this bothered her greatly. All of Furiza's other henchmen and Nameks she had fought during training sessions, and so she knew their individual strategies and weaknesses. She drained the last of an energy drink she had been drinking and followed him from the cell.  
They had been walking for about ten minutes when Sakura began to put her plan into action. She slowed down a little so that she was walking about a metre or two behind him. She took about three steps backwards, and delivered a sudden and powerful flying kick to the back of the Namek's neck. She heard the bone snap, and the Namek fell dead to the ground, the keys to the whole of Furiza's ship falling from his hand as his body went limp. Sakura knelt down beside his corpse and took the keys. "Sorry about that," she whispered to his lifeless body, a single tear rolling down her cheek. She stood up and ran back towards the cells.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Mother! Mother wake up!" Sakura hissed, shaking Ayane, who slowly stirred.  
  
"Sa - Sakura?" Ayane sat bolt upright, staring at her daughter with tears rolling down her face. They were not tears of pain or unhappiness, but tears of joy. This was the first time she had been able to communicate with her daughter in over a year.  
  
"Mother, we have to be quick. We're going to get out of here." Sakura was also crying as she spoke, it had been so long. "I already Dad and Kasubi out, let's go." Ayane then leapt out of bed, gathered a few personal belongings and hurried down the corridor with her family.  
  
"Where exactly are we going?" Ayane asked Sakura after about ten minutes. Her jet-black hair was flowing down to her shoulder blades, occasionally being blown into her face as they passed over-head fans.  
  
"I don't know to be honest, Mother. We can't go back home, Furiza will check there. I think we will go to Earth. Vegeta told me ages ago that a Saiya-jin named Kakarot is said to have been sent there as a baby. Maybe he will help us out."  
  
Kanata and Ayane looked anxiously at each other, unsure as to whether to tell her about Kakarot or not. They decided not to with a single shake of the head from Kanata, not yet. Sakura may have matured more than was expected from a girl her age, but she was still just seven years old, and not ready to find out about Kakarot just yet; they should wait a while.  
  
"Here it is." Sakura announced into the silence. She went to put the key into the lock, when an unfamiliar voice spoke out.  
  
"And just where do you think you're going?" The family spun around to see a Namek standing right behind them, in an advanced fighter's stance. Kanata, Ayane and Kasubi all stepped back, but Sakura stepped forward, and glared at the Namek.  
  
"Home." Sakura said without expression. She also assumed a fighter's stance.  
  
"I doubt that somehow, you Saiya-jin brat!" The Namek snarled, "You are never going to…" He never got to finish his sentence, because before he knew it, Sakura was upon him, attacking him with a series of merciless kicks and punches. After around five minutes, Sakura raised her palms, ready to use a Destructo Disk. She did not know when she had learned that attack. She had just known it all of her life.  
  
"DESTRUCTO DISK!" She yelled, and an orange disk of energy appeared in her hand. She took aim, and threw the Destructo Disk. The Namek was decapitated, and Sakura looked away, once again with a tear trickling down her face. Sakura had been brought up never to take a life, but desperation had forced her to do otherwise.  
  
Sakura swiped the key through the electric lock, and the door opened immediately. The family rushed inside, and found themselves facing a room full of different space pods.  
  
"Great!" Kasubi groaned, rolling her eyes. "None of us know how to work this kind of technology. Er, where is Sakura?" All three Saiya-jins looked around, and saw Sakura walking around the room, looking at the different space pods and small ships.  
  
"Alright," she said aloud from across the room. "We'll need a multi-passenger pod. It really needs to be able to run in automatic so that we can sleep for the journey. Oh yeah, how could I forget, it needs to be fast. We don't want Furiza's friends catching up with us now, do we? Ah, this one should just about do the job."  
  
She had stopped beside a medium sized space pod with a large window covering the whole front. She swiped the key, and the door opened in front of them.  
  
Inside the space pod was actually quite comfortable. There was room inside for up to six people to sit in front of the large window. There was even space inside for them to move around, train and eat. There was also a small bathroom and a tiny little kitchen. Sakura decided that she would use all of the extra space to train for a while before she went to sleep for the majority of the journey. They sat down and prepared to leave. Sakura shut the door and began to move out, and, at last, they were away. None of them noticed a pair of eyes watching them from inside a small closet.  
  
Around twenty minutes had passed since they had left Namek when the intruder showed himself. He crept up behind Sakura, who had just settled down to relax ready for her long sleep, and the next thing she felt was a damp, smelly cloth being held over her face. Her last thought before passing out, was of her family. The next thing she remembered was waking up back in Furiza's Planet 79. 


	4. To Earth

Over five years had passed since Sakura's attempted escape from Furiza, and much had happened since. Furiza had been destroyed by a Saiya-jin who's name Sakura did not know, Sakura was being held by Nameks who had leagued themselves with Furiza, and security was poor. This weakness gave Sakura one chance to escape.  
  
Sakura was sitting in her cell, filing her nails roughly in a temper, when a Namek messenger came to her. "What are you doing, you third class Saiya-jin brat?" he snarled at her, a suspicious look on his face.  
  
"What do you think I'm doing green bean, a darn tea-dance?" Sakura's reply annoyed the Namek greatly, and he walked up to her, snarling and baring his fang-like teeth.  
  
"Watch your mouth, scum," he growled at her. "You're just like your parents, disgusting!"  
  
Sakura stood up, walked up to the Namek, and spat on him. The Namek just wiped his face, and smiled. "I shall enjoy killing them," he whispered nastily, a smile on his face. "Watching them shriek in pain as they are burned…"  
  
The Namek continued like this for some time, but Sakura was only half listening to him. Rage was beginning to take over her body, and, as he spoke, she could feel her power level rising 50,000, 100,000, 250,000. Mirrors in the cell exploded in the power, and walls began to crumble, and yet, oblivious, the Namek continued to taunt Sakura about her parents and sister, and Sakura could not help but think how stupid he had to be. She ran up to the bars of her cage, which had melted in the heat reflecting off her energy. She climbed through the gap in the bars, turned back and looked at the Namek, who was standing staring at her, astonished by her incredible power. Sakura raised her hand and fired a powerful energy blast at the ceiling of the cell. The ceiling and walls collapsed, crushing the Namek beneath them. Sakura then took off, running towards her parents' and sister's cells.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Ayane opened her eyes slowly, and saw a face looking down on her. She thought she recognised that face from years before, and it was a while before she realised that the kind, smiling face before was in fact…her daughter.  
  
"Sakura?" she whispered, afraid of being wrong and having her hopes shattered to pieces again. Sakura nodded, and Ayane hugged her for the first time in five years, tears streaming down her face.  
  
"Hello Mum," Sakura said, a smile on her face. "You know, I have the strangest feeling of Deja-Vu, I'm pretty sure we were in this exact same position a few years back." Ayane laughed through her tears and smiled up at Sakura, tears still poring down her face. "Come on Mum," Sakura said, looking into her scouter. "We haven't got much time, and we still have to get Father and Kasubi. In about ten minutes, they will wonder where the Namek has got to, and they will discover the ruins of my cell, and his corpse."  
  
Ayane leapt up, filled with concern for her daughter, and the realisation of what Sakura planned to do.  
  
After around an hour, the family found themselves in a similar position to that they had been in five years earlier; Ayane, Kanata and Kasubi stood aside, while Sakura found them a space pod to depart in. Once again, she chose a medium sized, six-person pod. Before they knew it, they were off.  
  
Sakura looked out of the front window of the pod three hours later and sighed. It appeared as though they were free at last. A hand touched her shoulder, and she looked around to see her father looking at her. "Your mother agreed with me when I said I think you are ready for this gift." He opened his hand to reveal a silver chain with a beautiful silver locket attached. It was made of perfect silver with a pretty engraved design of tiny vines, and a pale blue diamond, around half a centimetre in diameter, in the middle. "It contains a picture of my youngest brother who I have not seen in person since he was just a baby," Kanata explained to her, obviously bringing back memories from his very distant past. "His name -" Kanata said slowly, "is Kakarot."  
  
Sakura looked at him, a questioning look on her face, as though she was waiting for her father to tell her that he was joking. When he never did, Sakura took the locket, and opened it. Kakarot had a friendly face and Sakura noticed his large and extremely innocent eyes. He had black, spiky hair, and Sakura was shocked at how boyish his features made him look. Sakura warmed to him immediately.  
  
"A Saiya-jin gave it to me after his trip to Earth a little while after I was contacted by Furiza," he explained. "I put it into the locket and saved it for when you were older." Sakura put the locket on and smiled at her father.  
  
"Thanks Dad." Sakura said to Kanata as he went back to his seat. Sakura looked out of the window of the ship and closed her eyes. It was going to be a long journey to Earth, and things had just become much more complicated.  



	5. Meet The Z Warriors

Chapter Five - Meet The Z Warriors  
  
The journey to Earth took one year, and when they landed in a remote, mountainous area, Sakura couldn't have got off the ship fast enough.   
  
She ran round for a while, looking at the flowers and the trees, and listening to the birds. She thought about what a beautiful planet this was, with it's blue sky, bright sunshine, green grass and wonderful wildlife.   
  
Suddenly, she heard a young child's cry, and she was sure that this was not a child playing, but a child in trouble. She and her family ran to the source of the cry.  
  
From her perch in a tree, Sakura could see a boy around her age, and a small boy around one or two years old. There were also two extremely large Nameks, one holding the older boy still, and the other holding the toddler upside down by his feet. Sakura began to rush forward, but Ayane held her back. "Stay here." She told her daughter, "We can handle this." With that, she, Kanata and Kasubi leapt from the tree, leaving Sakura in the tree to hang off branches by her tail, a little game she had not played since she was six years old, when she used to wrap her tail around people's arms and swing on them.  
  
Sakura's family landed a few feet from the Nameks and ran up to them, preparing to fight. The Namek holding the baby looked at them and raised a hand. Sakura looked up, and realised what the Namek was about to do when it was already too late to stop him. There was a massive explosion which hurt Sakura's ears and a blinding light, and screams of agony filled the air, but were sharply silenced after just a few seconds.  
  
After the dust had settled, Sakura looked onto the new makeshift battlefield. Her family lay on the ground, bruised, bloody and motionless. Sakura's scouter picked up none of their power levels. They were dead.  
  
Sakura threw herself forward, overcome with rage. She began attacking the Nameks using every move taught to her by Furiza and his henchmen, and by her personal Saiya-jin trainer whom Furiza had appointed to be responsible for her. His training sessions and responsibility over Sakura had lasted under a month before he had turned himself against Furiza. The Namek in front of her suddenly threw the toddler, noticing Sakura's power. The older boy looked in horror. "GOTEN!" He yelled, following the flying baby with his eyes. "NO!" Sakura shot forward and caught Goten before he hit a tree. Sakura hid him in a hollow in the tree, before rushing back down to the older boy and the Nameks.  
  
Sakura raised her fist, about to hit the Namek holding the boy, when somebody grabbed her arm. She spun round to see a third Namek standing over her. He was a tall Namek, wearing a turban and a cloak. "Gohan," he said, his voice deep, near to a growl, "What's going on here?" This Namek surprised Sakura. He seemed so serious, mature and strong, but he could not possibly have been much older than his late twenties, and, despite the hatred towards Nameks that Sakura had developed over the years of her imprisonment, Sakura could not help respecting him. She suddenly flew up into the air, breaking the new Namek's grasp, and drove her foot into the neck of the Namek holding the boy her age, Gohan, that was what the Namek had called him, the Namek's neck broke, and he was dead before he hit the ground.  
  
The second Namek ran at her, and she attacked. She flew up, and stood herself firmly on the Namek's shoulders. Placing one hand on each side of the Namek's head, Sakura took a deep breath, and twisted. The Namek's corpse fell onto the grass.  
  
The third Namek yelled, and ran towards Sakura, but in a blink of an eye, Gohan was in front of her. The Namek looked shocked. "Move, kid." He said staring at Gohan, and then looking down at the bodies of the two Nameks, whose green skin was stained purple by their blood. "She just killed two of my kind, now move out of my way."  
  
"No Piccolo, I won't." Gohan stood his ground, and Sakura was not sure who was more stubborn, him or this Namek, Piccolo. "She turned up when those Nameks came and attacked Goten and me, and killed those three people over there. If it wasn't for her, we'd both be dead. Er, come to think of it, where is Goten?" Sakura stood staring at Gohan for a couple of seconds, before rushing to retrieve Goten from his hiding place in the tree.  
  
When she landed back next to Gohan and Piccolo, they were talking about her, but Sakura did not hear, she was too busy staring at Gohan. He had black spiky hair, around not short, but not long either, and dark eyes. He was also quite tall. Wow, she thought to herself, not taking her eyes off Gohan, He is so cute. I wonder if he likes me.  
  
"Er, excuse me, miss?" Sakura blinked and looked at Gohan.  
  
"Yeah?" she said, blushing slightly.  
  
"Well," Gohan began, taking a deep breath. "We have a few questions we'd like to ask you. Like who are you? What are you doing here of all places? And why did you help Goten and me? I'm Gohan by the way. This is my little brother Goten, and my friend Piccolo."  
  
"Well Gohan," Sakura began to explain all about herself. "My name is Sakura. I'm a thirteen-year-old Saiya-jin, and this is the first time I have been outdoors without a Namek escort in seven years. When I was six, my family and eye were kidnapped by Furiza, an evil beast who pretended to be a great Saiya-jin trainer, and have been held prisoner ever since, to be trained to serve Furiza, just like the Saiya-jin prince was. He was a brave man who I was lucky enough to have training me. However, my heart was not turned to evil when Furiza trained me, unlike the prince's. They are my family over there. I finally escaped with them so that we could all live happily together. Now though, that is impossible, as I was told a long time ago that, should they ever die or be killed, I was not to attempt to revive them."  
  
Gohan looked at Sakura with pity in his eyes. "I know just how you feel." He said sadly. "My dad died two years ago, and he didn't want to be revived. That's why Goten and I are here. It's the anniversary of his death today, and he used to bring me fishing here all the time, in that river just over there. I miss him a lot. I'll ask my mom if you can stay with us if you like." To Sakura's surprise, Gohan also blushed.  
  
Sakura, Gohan and Piccolo buried the bodies of Kanata, Ayane and Kasubi, and lay three flowers on top of the grave. Sakura could not describe the sadness that she felt. It was as though everything for which she lived had been destroyed, and she wanted more than anything to be inside that grave with her family. It felt like there was suddenly a great hole inside of her, which would never be filled. Her whole family had arrived on Earth happy to finally be together, and now that happiness was gone within twenty minutes of first being achieved, as now, only Sakura remained to enjoy this beautiful planet.  
  
"Erm, Sakura," Gohan said uncomfortably. "I was wondering if it would make you feel any better to, er, go to see a movie or something, like a date if you want." Sakura looked at Gohan, shocked. She had no idea what a movie was, but she nodded anyway and smiled, a date sounded fun. Gohan returned the smile, and the four of them flew off towards Gohan's house.  
  
* * * * *  
  
When Gohan, Sakura, Goten and Piccolo arrived at Gohan's house, they were surprised to see a large number of people there when they walked through the door.  
  
"Mom, what's going on?" Gohan asked a dark haired woman standing in the middle of the room.  
  
"Oh! Hi Gohan, Goten, Piccolo." The woman replied, her face lighting up. "Krillen called. He got engaged to his mystery girlfriend, so we're holding a little party for them. Who's your friend?"  
  
Gohan introduced Sakura, and Sakura was introduced to everybody in the room. There was Krillen, a short, bald man with six dots on his forehead and a huge smile on his face, ChiChi, Gohan's mother, Chao-zu, a tiny little man with pure white skin and rosy cheeks, and a very high voice, and Tien, a tall muscular man with three eyes! There was also Yamcha, a dark haired man with scars on his face, Bulma, a turquoise haired woman with a very cheerful face, Trunks, a young boy a little older than Goten with lilac hair and blue eyes. There was also a man, medium height with large and spiky black hair. He looked surprised when he saw Sakura, who quickly backed away from him in horror.  
  
"V - Vegeta!" she stuttered, backing further and further away from him. Everybody in the room stared at them, looks of ultimate confusion on their faces. Vegeta smiled.  
  
"Well, well, well," he said, grinning and looking Sakura up and down. "Look who we have here. It's Vegeta's little baby. That's what Furiza used to call you, isn't it? You've grown a lot, but you still look exactly the same with your hair up in that ridiculous plait. Vegeta's little baby!" He knelt down besides her, chuckling, and pinched her cheek like you would a baby, just to taunt her. Sakura slapped his hand away from his face trying to ignore his taunting laughter. She raised her fist to hit him, when there was suddenly a knock at the door.  



	6. The Party

Chapter Six - The Party  
  
Vegeta ran to the door with an angry look on his face. A tall woman stood in front of him, smiling with her blue eyes twinkling slightly. She had blonde hair down to her shoulders, and very big eyes. Vegeta chuckled to himself and, quick as a flash, he delivered a sharp blow to her face, sending her flying into a crumpled heap twenty feet away. "Private party." He said quietly, and slammed the door. He turned around, and saw everybody in the room looking extremely relieved, except Krillen, who was standing in the middle of the room glaring at Vegeta with clenched fists, grinding his teeth.  
  
"Vegeta! You dope!" he shouted, still glaring at Vegeta, who had just sat down comfortably on the sofa. He rushed outside to the blonde woman and knelt down beside her. "Hey." He whispered, helping her to her feet. "Are you OK?"  
  
The woman leaned on Krillen, one hand on his shoulder. "Never been better." She joked, wincing as she touched her face. "I'll tell you one thing though, that Vegeta guy throws a darn good punch!"  
  
Krillen walked into the house with the woman, scowling at Vegeta as he walked past. "Hi guys!" he said, slightly uncomfortable as he noticed the way they were all looking at him. "Erm, this is my, er well, what's the word?" Krillen began to blush alarmingly as he struggled to find the words for what he was bout to say. "Oh yeah, I know! This is my wife-to-be! Sakura, this is #18, #18, this is Sakura."  
  
Everybody had their own different reactions to Krillen's announcement. "Well baldy," Vegeta said, staring at Krillen. "I've got to admit, you are braver than I thought possible for a pathetic little runt of a human like yourself!" Bulma glared at Vegeta, who held up his hands in fake surrender. It was obvious that she was also a human.  
  
"Krillen!" Tien cried, looking half shocked and half angry. "When exactly was it that you lost your MIND!"  
  
Yamcha's reaction was different. "Way to go Krillen!" He said, grinning from ear to ear and thumping Krillen on the back, which he had to lean down to do. "I told you the chick was into you, and that following my advice would work on your behalf. I am the master of dating, I mean hey, I dated Bulma!"  
  
Vegeta suddenly stood up, and Yamcha held up his hands. "Relax, man!" Yamcha cried, clear panic in his voice. "I didn't know the fact I used to date your chick was such a sensitive subject. I mean you have no right to have a go at me. I was dating the girl when you came on the scene. Jeeze!"  
  
"She is not my 'chick'!" Vegeta snarled through gritted teeth. "She is the mother of my son, nothing more! She is no more my girlfriend than you are, Scar face! I have my pride!"  
  
Bulma suddenly stood up. "Here Vegeta." She said in an attempt to break up the argument and to stop Vegeta from hurting her own feelings any more. "Take Trunks. It's about time you had something to do with your own son. I refuse to be turned into a single parent." She pushed Trunks into Vegeta's arms, and went to talk to Krillen and #18, leaving Vegeta to sit down bouncing Trunks up and down on his knee.  
  
He's not so bad. Vegeta thought to himself as he watched Trunks laughing hysterically and saying, "Bouncy castle, bouncy castle!" over and over as he was bounced on Vegeta's knee. When Bulma looked across at them, she was surprised to see Vegeta laughing with Trunks and muttering "Bouncy castle" every now and then. Bulma smiled, pleased at how well Vegeta's first time at looking after Trunks by himself had gone.  
  
The party went on late into the night, and when Sakura finally went to bed at long past midnight, everybody had fallen asleep. Trunks had been put to bed in Gohan's bedroom with Goten, Krillen and #18 were asleep on one side of the sofa, and on the other side of the sofa, Bulma had fallen asleep on Vegeta, using his chest as a pillow, and Vegeta himself had slowly dozed off with his chin resting on Bulma's head. 


	7. Let The Training Begin

Chapter Seven - Let The Training Begin  
  
The next morning, Sakura went downstairs to find Krillen, #18, Vegeta, Bulma and Trunks all still asleep on the sofa. Sakura sat down on an armchair opposite them, and looked at Vegeta, surprised at how happy and peaceful he looked, asleep with his family.  
  
Bulma suddenly woke up and jumped. The top of her head hit Vegeta's chin hard, Vegeta yelled, waking Trunks, Trunks began to cry, stirring #18, and she rolled over on the sofa, falling off and dragging Krillen, whose T-shirt she had been clinging to, off the sofa with her. Vegeta glared at Bulma. "I got to sleep three hours ago." He said, still staring at her. "I would appreciate it if you didn't do that again, because, as much as I don't want to see you killed, if you do it again, I will be unable to stop myself from throwing you through a wall!" With that, he picked up Trunks and walked into the kitchen, his stomach grumbling. A typical Saiya-jin trait. Bulma muttered something about him being the one to rest his chin on her head. Sakura laughed and followed Vegeta into the kitchen for breakfast. The rest of the household joined them later.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Later that day, the entire squad of Z warriors met outside Gohan's house. Piccolo was the one holding the little meeting. "OK guys." He said, looking at the group. "I'm gonna do a little one-to-one training, but I haven't decided which one of you guys is going to be my sparring partner. If you want to train with me, just step forward and I'll choose somehow." Everybody stepped forward, even, to Piccolo's surprise, Vegeta. "Okay, tough decision. I want to train with someone strong," he said, hesitating as he thought it over "But I don't want to train with someone so strong they'll flatten me, so Gohan, as a Level 2 Super Saiya-jin, I think that eliminates you. No offence, but I don't want to die just now." Gohan stepped back, and Piccolo looked over the group. "Right, I think I'm gonna regret this, but I think I'll pick Vegeta." Vegeta smiled, and stepped towards Piccolo.  
  
"Where are we going to train, green bean?" Vegeta asked Piccolo, his usual irritating grin on his face. Piccolo scowled.  
  
"Don't call me that." He growled at Vegeta, obviously regretting his decision already. "I think we'll train at my place for a while, before going to train for a while in about a hundred times gravity or something. How's that?"  
  
Vegeta nodded. "That's fine with me."  
  
"See you guys." Piccolo said to the rest of the Z Warriors. "Vegeta, come with me." He flew up into the air, and Vegeta followed him towards the Guardian of Earths plateau.  
  
Gohan suddenly turned to Sakura. "So," He said to her. "Do you want to do some training?" She nodded, and she and Gohan also flew off.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Right," Gohan told her, as they entered a big, white room with several items of training equipment in it, and a large machine in the middle. "This is a special training room. It can multiply the gravity in this room by hundreds times the Earth's natural gravity. Have you ever been inside one before?"  
  
Sakura nodded. "Yeah, Vegeta took me in one the first time I met him. We went in twenty times gravity. I've never been in any higher."  
  
Gohan looked at her. "Okay then, we'll start at twenty-five times gravity, and then work our way up." He walked up to the machine in the middle of the room, and pressed some buttons on a keypad. A number on a screen increased immediately from one to twenty-five. It felt a little strange to Sakura at first. Sakura could barely move for the first few moments. It was as though somebody was trying to bury her alive by pulling her through the ground, and the only thing she could do was fight.  
  
She and Gohan began to fight. She attempted to deliver blows to Gohan's face, but he blocked every one of her kicks and punches. Sakura was strong, and so was Gohan. Sakura jumped up, and landed in the corner of the room. She raised her arms high into the air and, as she had with Furiza several years before, and performed another series of brilliant forward flips, plunging her feet into Gohan's stomach. Gohan flew back several feet and crashed into the wall. He looked up at Sakura in shock, a small trickle of blood coming from his mouth. "OK." He said walking over to the machine and pressing some keys. "It's time to go up to fifty."  
  
Gohan and Sakura continued fighting for several hours, and were soon up to over two hundred and fifty times normal gravity, and Sakura had become much stronger than she had been just hours before. Gohan looked at Sakura and smiled. "I'm impressed." He told her, his blonde hair, blue eyes and bulging muscles standing out against all of his features, because they were not usually there. He was a Super Saiya-jin Level 2. This meant, that he had not only exceeded the maximum power level of an extremely strong first class Saiya-jin, but that of the legendary Super Saiya-jin as well. This, Sakura had never thought possible of a Saiya-jin of his class, especially not of a half human. Gohan looked at her. "Ever heard of the Kame-Hame-Ha?"  
  
The next few hours of their training was spent teaching Sakura a very powerful energy attack called a Kame-Hame-Ha. Sakura had some difficulty summoning enough of her energy for the Kame-Hame-Ha, but she soon mastered it, and after their training was complete, the floor of the room was damaged beyond repair. Sakura and Gohan's energy attacks had been pulled down to the ground by the increased energy in the room, and their power had destroyed the floor. By the time they finished their training, it was, once again, very late.  



	8. The Oozaru

Chapter Eight - The Oozaru  
  
Over a week had passed since Sakura had arrived on the planet Earth, and she and Gohan had become much closer. They had trained together, eaten together, walked together; in fact, it was a very rare occurrence for you to see one without the other. One day, at lunch, Sakura brought up an interesting point.  
  
"So Gohan," she said, a mischievous smile on her face. When are you going to take me on that date you promised me?"  
  
Gohan nearly choked on his egg rolls. "What?" he choked, staring at her? "Oh, that, er, well, we could go tonight if you want, I know a really good restaurant in the city. We could go there if you want, about eight o'clock?" He and Sakura made arrangements over dinner to meet outside Gohan's house at eight o'clock.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Sakura walked towards Gohan's house at seven thirty that night. She was wearing a midnight blue v-bottomed dress to just above her knee, and the silver locket her father had given her before his death stood out against the blue. She had a blue ribbon in her hair, which fell down loose to below her hips and her tail was wrapped tightly around her waist.  
  
Sakura looked up at the moon as it emerged from behind a cloud, the beautiful orb that seemed to penetrate her very skin as she looked up at it. A strange feeling suddenly took over Sakura's body. The clothes she was wearing began to rip as her body swelled, hair began to sprout from her whole body, and her eyes glowed a bright scarlet. The Oozaru turned its face in the direction of the city miles away, and began to move.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The city was filled with the sounds of terror, people screaming wherever you looked. Amidst the chaos, a great beast could be seen, demolishing any buildings in its path. People ran in all directions, trying to escape from the Oozaru's deadly path of destruction, many of them barely escaping, just inches from being crushed under the Oozaru's enormous feet. People looked up to see people being scooped up into the Oozaru's grasp and then being simply tossed aside, metres and metres from its huge hands.  
  
Helicopters flew overhead, while military forces and tanks circled the Oozaru's feet.   
  
* * * * *  
  
It was half past eight, and Gohan stood outside his house, still waiting for Sakura. Gohan looked up as he suddenly sensed a power level. It was Piccolo landing several feet away. He looked up and ran towards Gohan, a look of urgency on his face.  
  
"Oozaru!" he gasped, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead. "I went to Bulma's home looking for Vegeta, and Bulma was watching the television. They've sent military people to kill it. I haven't a clue who it is. Where are you going?"  
  
Gohan had rushed into his house, leaving Piccolo looking extremely confused. "It's Sakura!" he called back as Piccolo followed him into the house. Gohan rushed into his bedroom, closely followed by Piccolo. He ran up to a large chest at the end of his bed, and delivered a punch to the front of it, destroying the lock. He opened the chest to reveal swords, axes, crossbows and some weapons that even Piccolo did not know the name of. Gohan grabbed a sword from the pile, sheathed it and swung the sheath over his shoulder, one hand on its leather strap. He grabbed a blanket from his bed, and went to leave the house, but Piccolo stood blocking the doorway.  
  
"Piccolo move." Gohan ordered with little expression in his voice, but a furious look on his face. Piccolo did not budge.  
  
"Listen kid," he told Gohan sternly, still not moving an inch. "Just let the officials deal with this, you know what will happen - they don't have a chance of catching a moving Oozaru, so they can't kill her, just hold her back." Gohan just stared at him like he had lost his mind.  
  
"PICCOLO!" he yelled, a yellow aura suddenly blazing around him, as he transformed into a Super Saiya-jin, his black hair turning blonde and spiky, and his eyes turning a turquoise blue. "Right now, Sakura is huge. They can't possibly miss her, and I have the strangest feeling that even an Oozaru wouldn't come out to well after a bomb or something like that hit it. They are going to KILL her!"  
  
Piccolo still did not move, and Gohan snapped. He took a step back, clenched his fist and punched Piccolo in the stomach with tremendous force. Piccolo keeled over, and Gohan hit him in the back of the head with both fists. Piccolo fell unconscious to the floor and Gohan walked out of the house. Somehow, leaving Piccolo lying out cold on his bedroom floor did not seem a very good omen.  



	9. Gohan To The Rescue

Chapter Nine - Gohan To The Rescue  
  
Gohan flew between buildings, avoiding the rock that fell around him as the Oozaru knocked down skyscrapers right in front of his face. Okay Gohan, he thought to himself as he came to the Oozaru. Just keep her from hurting the people as my first priority, then work on getting her back to good old Sakura.  
  
There was a sudden scream from the ground. Gohan looked down to see a large pillar falling down onto a large group of people who had nowhere to run in the chaos. He flew down and threw himself under the pillar, catching it and holding it on his back as he floated in mid-air, much to the amazement of the people below, who just stood and stared.  
  
"Hello people," Gohan yelled down at them as they stood and stared at him. "Will you MOVE? Believe it or not there is a great big - er - 'ape' over there, and for some reason, I don't want to die when I'm thirteen!" People immediately ran from beneath the pillar, and Gohan let it fall as he ran up to the Oozaru. He flew in front of its face, and unsheathed his sword. The Oozaru roared and hit out at him, but Gohan dodged it, flying down towards its legs.   
  
Police and military helicopters flew around overhead, and one helicopter from the local television channel flew very near to the Oozaru as the reporter and cameraman leaned out trying to get a close up picture of the Oozaru and Gohan.  
  
The Oozaru continued to follow Gohan, trying to grab at him, but failing. Gohan was far too fast as a Super Saiya-jin. Gohan flew towards the Oozaru's tail, trying avoid its attacks as it lashed out with its huge fists and feet. Gohan flew up to the Oozaru's shoulders and raised his sword high above his head. He flew down, and sliced his sword through the base of the Oozaru's tail, cutting it off. The Oozaru roared and fell to the floor as it began to shrink. The hair on its body disappeared and it shrank back to a regular human size. Gohan covered Sakura's naked body with the blanket and wrapped her up. He wiped blood from her face before flying off with her in his arms.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Gohan sat in the dining room of his house looking at the wall, while ChiChi fussed over him with a bowl of hot water and a plaster. Gohan suddenly looked at the bathroom door, where Sakura had just appeared. She was wearing a pale pink fluffy bathrobe and white slippers, and her long hair was dripping wet, draped over her shoulder so it fell down her front. "Er, hi guys," she said as she walked into the room and sat down at the table. "Gohan, I'm really sorry about tonight, I had absolutely no idea that was going to happen. What did happen?" Sakura was confused, and shocked about what happened that night. Gohan looked at her, trying to find the words.  
  
"Well," he began to explain to her. "If a Saiya-jin still has their tail, then every full moon, if the moons light touches them, then they turn into an Oozaru, a bit like the weird werewolf story. It's only ever happened to me twice, but my dad was there to control me th…" He never got any further than that, because he was suddenly interrupted by a cough from the other side of the room.  
  
Gohan, ChiChi and Sakura looked up to see Piccolo leaning against the doorframe of Gohan's bedroom. "Anyone mind if I sit down?" He asked looking at Gohan angrily. Gohan shook his head, unable to look at Piccolo. Piccolo sat down, and put a hand on Gohan's shoulder. "It's OK kid," he said to Gohan soothingly. "I understand why you knocked me out. You couldn't just sit around doing nothing while Sakura got beat up by a whole army with machine guns. You had to go and help." Piccolo suddenly coughed, and blood was sprayed over the table. ChiChi scowled at Piccolo, but Gohan jumped up.  
  
"Hold on!" he said as he ran up to a draw in the kitchen, and took out a small brown bag. He emptied the bag onto his hand, and four small green beans fell into the palm of his hand. He gave one to Piccolo, who swallowed it, and was healed immediately. Gohan offered one to Sakura, but she refused.  
  
"No, it's OK." She assured him, shaking her head. "I'm fine, really." Gohan nodded and smiled at her. ChiChi stood up, and put a hand on Gohan's shoulder.  
  
"Come on hero," she told him, a proud smile on her face. "It's time you got to bed. You too Sakura." She added as Sakura grinned at Gohan and pointed towards his bedroom door a taunting grin on her face. Her face fell, and she traipsed towards the spare room dragging her feet across the carpet. Although Sakura was sad that her tail had been removed, she was also relieved that she could never turn into an Oozaru again. She did not want to endanger anybody's lives like that ever again. That was not what she was on Earth to do.  



	10. Trunks' Return

Chapter Ten - Trunks' Return  
  
The next morning, a loud knocking on the door waked Sakura. She ran from her bedroom, but was beaten to the door by Gohan, who opened it to see Vegeta standing before him. Behind him were Bulma, Trunks, Piccolo, Krillen, #18, Tien, Chao-zu, and Yamcha. "Vegeta," Gohan asked groggily, rubbing his eyes. "It's six o'clock in the morning, would you please explain what you're doing here?"  
  
Vegeta scowled at him. "Hello to you too." He shot back at Gohan as he pushed into the house followed by the whole group of people with him. There was a sudden cry from Gohan's bedroom.  
  
"Will you lot please be quiet?" He whispered as he rushed into his room. He returned two minutes later with Goten whimpering in his arms and sucking his thumb, his eyes wide and staring.  
  
"Sorry." Vegeta apologised, much to Gohan's surprise. "We have a problem." Vegeta went to carry on, but was interrupted. He looked behind him, and saw Trunks crying and reaching towards him. Vegeta was flabbergasted, even more so when Trunks stopped wailing as soon as Bulma handed him to Vegeta. "Anyway," Vegeta continued, blushing slightly at the thought of being seen holding a small child. "I sensed two power levels heading towards Earth, one of them very strong and familiar, but it was far too distant for me to recognise. The other was weak, like a baby or something. It was still stronger than an human baby though, a little lower than Kakarot's boy over there." He added, nodding towards Goten. "I think it's headed towards around here, judging by the course it has taken. It should be here in about an hour or so; it's very close. Well, aren't you two going to get dressed?" Gohan and Sakura started to rush towards their rooms, when Vegeta stopped them again. "You wouldn't happen to have any food would you, I haven't eaten yet?" Gohan and Sakura fell flat on their faces.  
  
* * * * *  
  
After they had eaten, the group stood outside Gohan's house, Vegeta was still stuffing himself with chocolate and milk. Gohan suddenly looked up towards the sky, and saw a small space pod sized 'ship' coming towards them. Bulma screamed and began jumping up and down on the spot, and Vegeta gasped, a small smile appearing on his face. "It's Trunks." He explained to Sakura. "He's from the future, you know, Trunks, only older." Sakura nodded to show that she understood. The ship landed several feet from them, and the group ran over to it.  
  
A man climbed slowly out. He was around twenty years old, and quite tall and muscular. He had straight, lilac hair down to just above his shoulders, and big blue eyes. He was wearing black, baggy trousers, a blue t-shirt and a black Capsule Corp. jacket. He looked up at them all, and waved, before turning back towards his capsule, and reaching in to take something out. When he emerged, he was cradling a small bundle of blankets in his arms.  
  
Trunks walked over to them smiling, and Bulma threw her arms around him, but he stepped back. "Be careful!" he told her, holding the bundle of blankets close to him as though it was the last thing he had left on Earth. Bulma looked at him curiously.  
  
"What have you got there?" she asked, peering into the bundle. Trunks smiled and pulled back the blankets to show them. A small baby lay asleep in the blankets. The baby had a short lilac hair, and a tiny, pale face.  
  
Trunks smiled at them. "Her name's Sayoke." He told them as she shifted in her blankets. "Is it OK if I get her inside? She's only a month old." Gohan nodded, and lead the group back into the house.  
  
Trunks sat at the table and looked at the people sitting around the table, and feeding Sayoke a bottle of milk. "Wow," he exclaimed as he looked at them. "You lot sure have changed. Gohan, you've shot up, but then, so have I for that matter." He added, looking at Chibi Trunks. Then he noticed Goten. "And who's this?" he asked in shock. "A mini Goku?"  
  
Gohan laughed and looked down at Goten. "Oh, no." He told him, still smiling. "This is my little brother Goten. It's so sad, he never knew Dad, and he never will. I don't know how I'd live without having known my Dad. Poor Goten." Trunks nodded sympathetically, before noticing Sakura.  
  
"Who are you?" he asked, looking at her suspiciously, obviously noticing that she had a higher than normal power level. Sakura jumped, and looked up from Sayoke, who she had been looking at with a smile on her face. Trunks held Sayoke closer to him protectively, worried that Sakura was not on their side, and planned to hurt her.  
  
Gohan answered for her. "This is Sakura. She's a pure blood Saiya-jin. Her family died trying to save Goten and me from a couple of Nameks, and then she came along and did it herself, beat them by herself. If it wasn't for her, we'd both be dead." Trunks looked shocked, but relieved. He was about to say something to Sakura, when he was interrupted.  
  
"Trunks," Vegeta piped up all of a sudden. "Tell us some more about this Sayoke kid. Who the heck is she?"  
  
Trunks stared at him surprised by his sudden outburst. "She's my daughter." He told him shortly, and carried on feeding Sayoke.  
  
"I see," Vegeta said, looking at Sayoke. "And who is her mother?"  
  
Trunks looked up and rubbed his eyes, blinking furiously. "She was a human called Fuu. She died about a week ago, when somebody attacked our house looking for me. I was out with Sayoke, so they killed her instead. I came here because I didn't want to risk my daughter's life by hanging around."  
  
Vegeta looked stunned. "A human?", he enquired, swallowing down the rage that was evident in his voice and looking at Trunks as though he was the lowest thing on Earth. "What happened to cherishing first class Saiya-jin blood. A fine prince you are."  
  
"Excuse me?", Trunks cried, staring at Vegeta "That's a bit hypocritical isn't it? I mean mom's a human believe it or not, and I've got a feeling you knew that before you got together with her, so don't have a go at me. I'm a half-blood, so a little more human blood won't do any harm."  
  
Vegeta looked shocked. He remembered Trunks as a quiet young man who respected Vegeta's sense of pride. He would never have answered him in such a manner three years ago. Then again, before Trunks was born, there were a number of things Vegeta would not have done, like play soccer. Maybe Sayoke had changed Trunks in a similar way. Trunks looked at Vegeta for a moment, before standing up and walking Sayoke round the room with her head resting on his shoulder.  



	11. Vegeta's Suggestion

Chapter Eleven - Vegeta's Suggestion  
  
A couple of days had passed since Trunks' arrival, and Vegeta was back to training with Piccolo at the Guardian of Earth's plateau, and very intense training it was too. Every day at five o'clock in the morning, they were up and ready to spar. They only stopped training for meals, and the bathroom.  
  
One day, about a week and a half into their training, Vegeta went out onto the plateau edge over looking Earth, and he saw Piccolo sitting on a step, his chin in his hands. He was not meditating, as he usually was first thing in the morning, but just sitting staring into space. Vegeta walked up to him and grinned. "You look bored Green bean." He called over, still grinning. "Maybe you should get yourself a kid. I promise, you won't have time to be bored then, now come on, let's train." Piccolo looked up, deciding whether or not Vegeta had been serious or not. Whether he had been or not, what Vegeta had said had stirred a feeling inside Piccolo, a feeling that maybe Vegeta had a point, maybe he did miss having a child around since Dende had grown up. Piccolo made a decision.  
  
"Vegeta," he said, standing up. "I need you to help me out. I need you to go and buy me some blankets, and a few toys, you know, a ball, some toy cars, building blocks, that kind of thing. Will you do that for me. I'd do it myself, but I think a green man shopping would scare people a little. Plus, I don't have any money."  
  
Vegeta stared at Piccolo gob smacked. "Let me get this straight Green bean," he began slowly. "You are going to take my advice?" Piccolo nodded. Vegeta just stared. "OK I'll do it." He said, and flew off the side of the plateau, just as Mr PoPo came out to speak to them.  
  
"Where has Vegeta gone, Piccolo?", he asked as he looked over the edge of the plateau and watched Vegeta disappear as he flew further towards Earth.  
  
"Oh," Piccolo answered smiling. "He's just gone to do me a little favour. He should be back in a couple of hours." Mr PoPo looked stunned.  
  
"Vegeta has gone to do you favour?" he asked Piccolo, just to make sure he had heard him right. Piccolo nodded, and Mr PoPo looked even more astonished. "What is this favour?", he asked inquisitively, still staring at Piccolo.  
  
"Wait and see." Was the only reply he got, before Piccolo stood up, and walked back into Dende's home.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Vegeta landed hard back on the Guardian of Earth's plateau, and his knees buckled under the pressure of his violent landing. Piccolo rushed out, and stopped dead in his tracks. Vegeta was carrying four huge bags filled with toys and blankets, and Piccolo had difficulty containing his laughter. "What happened to 'a few toys'?", he asked him, still struggling not to laugh. Vegeta dropped the bags and looked at him.  
  
"I couldn't decide what to buy, so I bought pretty much everything that fitted the description you gave me, and don't worry Green bean, you will pay me back."  
  
Piccolo rolled his eyes, and nodded. "OK," he said, taking a deep breath. "Here goes nothing." Piccolo suddenly bent over, his eyes bulging. His throat began to swell, and Vegeta slapped him hard on the back.  
  
"Don't you dare choke to death Green bean!", he half shouted. "You still have to pay me back for those toys!" Piccolo lashed out at him furiously, signalling for him to stop hitting him, which he did. Piccolo's mouth opened wide, and Vegeta saw the tip of a large yellow object beginning to emerge. Piccolo gave a violent cough, and a large, yellow egg covered in green slime shot from his mouth and flew through the air. Piccolo ran forward as fast as he could, and caught the egg in his arms, falling backwards against a wall.  
  
The egg began to shake, and a small crack appeared in the side. Within moments, the egg split open completely, and a tiny Namek, about the size of a human baby-sat up inside, while Vegeta watched in horror. "That," he said slowly, still staring at the egg. "That is the most disgusting thing I have ever seen in my life!"  
  
Piccolo looked up, and laughed. "Thanks a lot!", he laughed as he looked down at Namek child. "A little different from what you're used to, but not that odd."  
  
Vegeta looked at Piccolo and the baby. "Well," he asked Piccolo impatiently. "What are you going to call it?"  
  
Piccolo looked at his child and thought. "I think I'll call him Keiichi." He told Vegeta, and then turned to his son. "What do you think?" The child sat still for a moment, before he nodded.  
  
"Yes," he said quietly, in a very small voice. "I like that." Vegeta nearly fell off the edge of the plateau.  
  
"He spoke!", he cried, staring at Keiichi. Piccolo just nodded.  
  
"Namek children can walk and talk from birth." He explained. "It's just natural." Keiichi stepped out of the egg, and pulled on the bottom of Piccolo's cloak.  
  
"Can I sit on your shoulders please Daddy?", he asked, staring up at Piccolo. Piccolo nodded and lifted Keiichi onto his shoulders. He walked around like that for a while, laughing with Keiichi as he walked. He suddenly stopped dead, and looked over to the side of the plateau, where he could sense two power levels approaching.  
  
Gohan and Sakura landed on the plateau, and looked at Piccolo curiously. Keiichi slid down Piccolo's cloak and hid behind his legs, occasionally peering at Gohan and Sakura timidly. Gohan was the first to speak out. "Er, Piccolo," he asked, pointing at Keiichi. "What's that?" Piccolo looked behind him and laughed. He picked Keiichi up, and rested him on his hip like ChiChi often did with Goten.  
  
"This is Keiichi." He told Gohan and Sakura, smiling at Keiichi. "He's my, er, kid." Gohan stared at him like he had just claimed insanity.  
  
"He's you kid?" he asked cautiously. "Piccolo, when did you have a kid?"  
  
"About five minutes ago." Vegeta cut in. "And believe me Mop-top, it is not something you want to see."  
  
Gohan nodded. "For the first time in my life, I think I agree with Vegeta." He told them. "I really never want to see that. Why don't you introduce Keiichi to the gang?" Everybody laughed, and they all took off towards Earth, Piccolo holding Keiichi in his arms a they flew down towards Gohan's house.  



	12. Gohan's Revelation

Chapter Twelve - Gohan's Revelation  
  
Gohan, Sakura, Vegeta, Piccolo and Keiichi all landed at Capsule Corp. around half an hour later, and rushed straight towards a balcony where they could see Bulma and Trunks sitting from outside the large house.  
  
As soon as they arrived on the balcony, Bulma turned around and looked at them, her nose wrinkled. "Ugh!", she cried as she turned and looked at them. "What is that smell?", then, she noticed Vegeta, whose arms and face were shiny with sweat. Bulma shook her head. "Vegeta!", she jokingly half shouted, her brow furrowed, and looking at Vegeta with a penetrating and quite frightening stare that she knew always made Vegeta do whatever she told him. "That is disgusting. Shower! Now!".  
  
"Fine!" Vegeta said, rolling his eyes and walking into the house. Bulma watched him walk in, before turning back to the rest of the group.  
  
"Oh, I don't know.", she told them as soon as he was out of sight. "I give it twenty minutes before he yells for a towel - he always forgets. Who's the kid?" She had suddenly noticed Keiichi, who was wandering around by the edge of the balcony.  
  
"Oh," Gohan started to explain, "This is …"  
  
"KEIICHI!" Everybody spun around to see Piccolo hanging of the balcony, hanging on by his feet. He emerged, Keiichi held firmly in the grasp of one of his hands. He rested Keiichi of his hip again and stated to lecture him mercilessly. "What the heck do you think you're doing?", he said, his eyes wide and a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face. "You could have killed yourself. Half an hour old, and you haven't twigged on yet that if you walk off the side of a balcony, you don't come out too healthy. I should consider health and safety lessons for you!"  
  
Keiichi looked down at his hands, and then up at Piccolo. "Sorry Daddy!", he whispered, nearly crying. Piccolo smiled, and put Keiichi on his knee as he sat down.  
  
"Where did you get this 'daddy' thing from?", he asked Keiichi, a puzzled look on his face. "I've never heard a Namek call his parent 'daddy'." Keiichi shrugged his shoulders and smiled up at Piccolo.  
  
"I dunno." He said, twiddling his thumbs and looking up at Piccolo innocently. "Just say it. Why?"  
  
Piccolo shook his head. "No reason. Just curious, that's all."  
  
Bulma looked at Gohan questioningly and nodded towards Piccolo and Keiichi. "What's with them two?", she asked him, still looking quite confused. Gohan went to answer her, but there was a sudden yell from inside the house.  
  
"Hey, servant girl!". It was Vegeta calling Bulma. "Will you bring me a towel?"  
  
Bulma sighed and stood up. "OK Vegeta," she shouted as she walked into the house. "I have three points. First, will you stop calling me 'servant girl'? You've been calling me that for years now, and to be honest, it's annoying. My name is Bulma and you know it. Second, can't you ever remember your own towel, you know where they are kept, and third, you'll find that please works wonders you know!" A distant shout of "Please!" could be heard from inside the house from Vegeta.  
  
While all this went on, Gohan and Sakura sat talking about their families. "My mother and father were both Saiya-jins." Sakura told Gohan while she ate her way through several bars of chocolate. "They were away from the Saiya-jin home planet when it was destroyed, and so they settled somewhere else. When I was little, Furiza found out where we were and decided we would make good additions to his collection of Saiya-jin warriors - especially me."  
  
Gohan looked at her, an expression of pity and warmth on his face. "I know kind of how you feel." He told her gently, looking down at his hands. "Dad died to save the world, and then he didn't even want to come back. For a little while afterwards, I felt like he didn't want to come back to me. I felt kind of hurt."  
  
"Who was your dad?" Sakura asked him, suddenly thinking of how familiar Goten looked, and wondering if hearing his father's name would remind her of who he looked like.  
  
"His name was Goku." Gohan replied, taking a bar of chocolate from the pile and swallowing it in one gulp. "Well, that was his Earth name, his Saiya-jin name - the one he was given by his Saiya-jin parents when he was born - was Kakarot."  
  
Sakura fell off her chair and looked up at Gohan from the balcony floor, a look of horror on her face. "Kakarot?", she gasped, staring at Gohan, her eyes shining on the verge of tears. Gohan nodded. She stood up and opened her locket. "Is this your father?", she asked, showing Gohan the photograph of her uncle that her father had given her.  
  
"Yeah," Gohan said, staring at the photograph for a moment, and then back up at Sakura. "Why? Where did you get this?"  
  
Sakura looked at him for a moment, and then she stared at the floor, a single tear rolling down her cheek. "My father gave it to me when we escaped. Kakarot was his brother - my uncle." Gohan gaped at her, stunned.  



	13. Trunks' Advice

Chapter Thirteen - Trunks' Advice  
  
Sakura sat on her bed, staring at the wall opposite her. The same question kept going over and over in her head. Why was this happening to her? She felt almost as though her father had betrayed her, as though it was his fault this was happening to her, all because he told her about Kakarot.  
  
There was suddenly a knock at the door, and Sakura looked up to see Gohan standing in the doorway. "What do you want?", she asked bitterly through clenched teeth.  
  
"I just thought you might want a little chat." Gohan replied coolly, sitting at the foot of the bed. "I mean, no offence or anything, but you seem kind of stressed out."  
  
"What do you expect?", she snapped back at him, picking up a small tennis ball and throwing it hard against the wall. "I just found out that my boyfriend's my cousin! I'm not exactly going to be dancing on the rooftops now, am I!"  
  
Gohan looked down at the carpet and then back up at Sakura. "Sorry" he said softly. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything."  
  
Sakura looked up at him, her eyes red and swollen. "What was it you wanted to talk to me about, Gohan?", she asked him.  
  
"Well," he told her slowly. "I just wanted know if you wanted to like, be friends. I just don't want us to suddenly start hating each other." Sakura smiled at him, her eyes lighting up for the first time since she had told Gohan that Kakarot was her uncle three days ago.  
  
"Sure." She said to him, getting up off the bed and walking up to the door. "Do you want to play a board game or something before dinner?"  
  
Gohan burst out laughing and nodded. "Alright then." He somehow choked out through his laughter. "Come on then." Sakura smiled back at him and the two of them walked out towards the dining table.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Bulma stood up to go to bed. "Goodnight Trunks." She said to Trunks, who had been sitting with her, watching the television.  
  
"Mother!", Trunks called out, stopping her. "Wait, I need to tell you something." Bulma turned around and looked at Trunks.  
  
"What?", she asked, turning back to look at Trunks.  
  
"I need you to save my father's life."  
  
Bulma looked shocked. She sat back down and looked at Trunks with wide eyes. "You - you need me to what?", she asked him, just to make sure she had heard him properly, which she already knew she had.  
  
"I need you to save my father's life." He replied calmly, looking her in the eyes more seriously than he had ever looked at anybody in his life. "Some Nameks are going to come. Lots of them. They are going to be looking for Dad, and they'll have a description of him, you know, black hair, that kind of thing. I need you to help him by making that description useless."  
  
Bulma looked at him, trying to take in what her son had just told her to do. "So let me get this straight." She said, thinking hard. "You want me to make Vegeta look different. How about dying his hair?", she suggested, a smile on her face.  
  
"That's exactly what I mean." He said, nodding happily. "Anything to stop them from being able to recognise him."  
  
"Don't worry about it Trunks." Bulma said coolly, looking down at Sayoke, who Trunks was holding, and smiling. "'Miracle Mom' is on the case!" Trunks smiled and gave Bulma the thumbs up.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Vegeta stood up and stretched. "I am going to bed." He told Bulma as he left the room. "Goodnight." Bulma looked up and watched him out of the room, before reaching into her bag, and pulling out a small cardboard box. She read the box :-  
  
Instant hair dye - PINK.  
  
She took a deep breath, before going to bed.  
  
* * * * *  
Bulma lay awake, looking at her bedside clock. The digits flickered to midnight, and Bulma climbed out of bed. She walked around the bed and looked down at Vegeta's face. "Sorry about this Vegeta." She whispered to the sleeping Saiya-jin. Bulma wet Vegeta's hair carefully with warm water, trying not to spill any on his face, lest it wake him. She rubbed the pink mixture into his hair, and eyebrows - she did not want to leave any hint that his hair was naturally black. She washed away the mixture, and struggled not to laugh at the results - Vegeta's hair was bright fuchsia! "Vegeta," she whispered "When you wake up and you try to kill me, remember it was for your own good." With those final words, Bulma walked back round the bed, and went to sleep.  



	14. The Nameks Attack

Chapter Fourteen - The Nameks Attack  
  
Vegeta woke up early the next morning, and slouched into the bathroom, rubbing his eyes. Bulma jolted awake and looked towards the door of the bedroom, waiting for his reaction. There was a sudden yell, followed by the sound of somebody falling to the floor. Bulma jumped out of bed and rushed towards the bathroom, where she found Vegeta lying on his back, staring at the ceiling with wide eyes. He noticed Bulma walk into the room and a question formed in his mind. "Bulma," he asked her sarcastically, looking up at her from the floor as she stood over him, struggling to control her laughter. "Could you please explain to me exactly why my hair is bright pink?" Bulma stood, lost for words.  
  
Bulma told Vegeta exactly what Trunks had told her to do, while Vegeta sat on the edge of the bath and listened carefully. "But," she added quickly when she had finished explaining. "I took the liberty of buying you an outfit to match your new hair, just to cheer you up." She stood up, and took a brown parcel from the cupboard under the sink. Vegeta opened it, to find a bright fuchsia shirt, and banana yellow trousers.  
  
"Erm, Bulma." He said staring at the outfit. "This looks familiar." Bulma nodded, smiling from ear to ear.  
  
"Yep!" she said happily. "I bought it from the same shop I bought the last one from. You seemed to like the outfit." Vegeta forced a smile.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Gohan flew up to Bulma's house as fast as he could, closely followed by Sakura, Krillen, Tien, Chao-zu, Yamcha, Piccolo and Keiichi. Gohan was worried. They had sensed an incredible power level heading straight for Earth, around thirty incredible power levels, and Gohan's first thought was to go straight to Vegeta and Trunks.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Bulma, Vegeta and Trunks sat on one of the balconies of Bulma's house. Chibi Trunks was crawling around the floor looking for his soccer ball, which Vegeta had hidden behind his back. Vegeta suddenly jumped when Trunks' little hand came up behind his back and grabbed the ball from his grasp.  
  
Gohan landed on the balcony and rushed up to Vegeta. He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped suddenly as he noticed Vegeta's hair. "What - what happened to your hair?", he laughed, abandoning his attempt to stay looking serious because he thought several of his ribs had cracked trying not to laugh. Vegeta scowled at him.  
  
"It's a long and annoying story!", he forced snapped at Gohan. "What are you all doing here?"  
  
"We sensed some power levels coming towards the Earth." Sakura answered, stopping Gohan before he had even opened his mouth. "And, the closer they get the more I think that they are Furiza's Nameks. There are loads of them, we don't stand a chance."  
  
"This is it!", Trunks said standing up and nearly dropping Sayoke. "These are the Nameks I was talking about." He turned towards Vegeta. "Father," he said, "We have to get you out of there."  
  
"Don't be stupid!", Vegeta said back to him. "I think I can handle a few Nameks!"  
  
"You're wrong." Sakura told him bluntly, standing up. "They're really powerful. The only reason I could handle them before is because there was only a few of them, and as a little girl I was trained by a brilliant Saiya-jin. You won't be able to handle them."  
  
"Excuse me, brat!", Vegeta shouted, rushing up to her. "From when I was a mere toddler I was trained by my father, he was almost as powerful as I am now. Don't you dare make out that you were trained by a greater Saiya-jin than I was, because believe me, you were not. Just look, I'm a Super Saiya-jin, and you're not." Sakura glowered at him.   
  
"I'll have you know," she said slowly, not blinking at all as she stared at Vegeta, "My father was a great Saiya-jin. He died a noble death, saving two boys' lives!" Vegeta smiled.  
  
"That story sounds so familiar!", he said simply. He went to walk from the balcony, but was stopped by a sudden explosion. He turned around to see smoke billowing up from the horizon around half a mile away. Trunks looked towards the cloud of smoke with a strange look on his face, part determination, and part fear.  
  
"We can't just rush in there!", Sakura said, looking around at them. Her eyes stopped on one person. "Piccolo!", she said, staring at him. "You're a mean green fighting machine, you can sneak in there, pretend to be one of them, and attack them then!" Piccolo stared at her.  
  
"Mean green fighting machine?", he said, a grin on his face. "Well that's one I've never heard before!" With that comment, the whole group took off towards the sight of the explosion.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Sakura landed first and looked over to the group of Nameks. There were around thirty of them. They looked around, and one of them smiled. "Well," he said, the horrid grin still on his face. "Lets go find this Prince." The group began to walk towards the city, not noticing that Piccolo had joined their gang. He suddenly jumped up, and kicked the nearest Namek in the back of the head. All of the Nameks turned and stared at him. They all looked furious, and crazy.  



	15. Sakura's Sacrifice

Chapter Fifteen - Sakura's Sacrifice  
  
Sakura flew into the sky above the fight. She looked below her, and saw Gohan, Trunks, Krillen, Vegeta and #18 all running headfirst into the fight. Yamcha, Tien and Chao-zu were already attacking. Sakura hovered overhead watching the fight carefully. She watched the Nameks fighting her friends for around five minutes before she noticed their weakness. The Nameks always stayed close together. She assumed that they intended for this to make them stronger as a group, but using a power she had never revealed to anybody in her life, Sakura knew how to twist this to her advantage. She flung herself into the middle of the fight, and attacked the Namek nearest to her.  
  
Sakura fought with all of her power against the Nameks, but they kept on coming. She looked to her side, and saw Trunks being attacked by four Nameks at once. A large Namek delivered a powerful energy blast to his stomach, and Trunks flew through the air and landed in a heap next to a rock, his hair changed from golden to lilac in an instant and covered his face like a blanket. Sakura flew over and kneeled down beside him. She turned him over carefully, a hand touched his stomach and she pulled it away quickly. Her fingertips were covered with deep red blood. She looked at Trunks' stomach, and saw a small hole, no wider than a finger going right through his stomach. His eyes suddenly burst open, and he yelled in agony. He was conscious and in a great deal of pain.  
  
Rage surged through Sakura more than ever before, and her power level increased dramatically. Her muscles expanded, and a strange feeling came over her. A yellow aura appeared all around her body, and her hair began to shake. The bottom of her plait burst, leaving just half plait remaining, and the hair at the bottom of her plait shot up in all directions, a huge mass of golden hair appeared around her like a mane. Her eyes suddenly flickered and became turquoise. Her transformation was complete. She was finally a Super Saiya-jin.  
  
Sakura once again threw herself into the fight. She rushed over to Gohan, grabbed his arm and pulled him from the chaos. "Sakura!" he gasped, taking in what he was seeing as he looked at her. ""You're - you're a Super Saiya-jin!"  
  
"I noticed." Sakura said quickly "Listen Gohan. I'm going to get the whole group of Nameks together. When I say so, I need you to prepare a Kame-Hame-Ha. Do not fire until I say though, Ok. And no matter what, fire the attack!" Gohan looked at her, puzzled.  
  
"What are you going to do?" he asked slowly, still trying to work out what she meant in her last sentence.  
  
"That doesn't matter Gohan," she half shouted. "Just do it." With that, she rushed back to the fight, getting all of the Z warriors out of the Namek's group. When this was done, she began the final stage of her plan.  
  
Sakura held out her palm, and ball of energy appeared in the air in front of her. "Get ready Gohan!", she yelled down at Gohan, who began to gather the energy for a Kame-Hame-Ha. She flew into the group of Nameks, and stretched out her arms. Light flowed from her fingertips and engulfed the group in a 'cloud' of energy. The Nameks all struggled to escape, but none prevailed. "Gohan!", Sakura yelled down, "Now!" Gohan looked up in horror.  
  
"Have you lost your mind?", shouted, hoping desperately that he had heard wrong. "You'll be killed!"  
  
"We all have to make our sacrifices Gohan!" Sakura called back at him, "Kaka - Goku made his sacrifice, now let me make mine. Trust me, everything will be fine!" Gohan stared up at her.  
  
"Ok then," he said under his breath. He took a step back and attacked. "KA - ME - HA - ME - "He took a deep breath and yelled the end of his attack. " HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" A beam of energy shot from his cupped hands. Gohan turned away as the beam hit the group of Nameks - and Sakura. Sakura screamed in agony as the energy scorched right through her skin. The second that it lasted seemed like a year. It felt as though she was being burned alive in a furnace. Her skin burst into flames as the ultimate heat passed right through her, and her silver locket fell from around her neck.  
  
Gohan looked up, and saw something fall to the ground. He ran up to it and saw that it was Sakura's locket, somehow still perfect after surviving the blast. He looked back up to the sky and saw that it was remained of his cousin. "She would have wanted this to survive." He said quietly, and put the chain around his own neck.  
  
Gohan was distraught. Even though he had never shown it, he thought the world of Sakura. She had been his cousin, and one of his best friends all in one. She was the only person his age he called a true friend. He thought of all the good times they had had together. Training together - introducing her to the Z Warriors - the pride he had felt when he had seen her a Super Saiya-jin - telling each other jokes - laughing at Vegeta's hair and outfit - flying up to Dende's plateau together - eating together. Now this was all over, and Sakura was dead. No more fun at meal times, no more fights over the last bar of chocolate of the last piece of cake. All of that was gone, and Gohan found himself wishing he had gone with it. He fell to his knees, and stared down at the ground in shock.  
  
"Gohan!". He looked around and saw Piccolo running up to him. "Where's Sakura?" Gohan looked up, tears leaking from his eyes, and before even he knew what he was doing, he threw his arms around Piccolo and wept into his shoulder.  
  
Piccolo was stunned. He pulled Gohan off him, his hands on his shoulders, and looked into his eyes. "Where's Sakura?" he asked again. Then his eyes fell on the locket, and he stared up into the sky. "No." He said quietly, still staring at the spot in the sky where the explosion had taken place. He pulled Gohan to his feet and tried to comfort him, when Gohan suddenly gasped.  
  
"The Dragon!", Gohan cried, staring at Piccolo. "We can bring her back using the Dragon balls!" Piccolo smiled and nodded.  
  
"Sure thing kid." He said to Gohan, and the whole team of the Z Warriors flew off to Gohan's house.  



	16. Welcome To The Other Dimension

Chapter Sixteen - Welcome To The Other Dimension  
  
Sakura looked around, her mouth open in shock. She was on an extremely long and twisting path that carried on as far as the eye could see. Where am I? She asked herself. Last thing I remember I was dying. What am I doing here? The presence of a power level interrupted her thoughts. She looked up to see a tall man walking towards her. The man had black hair which stuck out in all directions, dark eyes, a boyish face, and huge muscles.  
  
"Hi." He said to her as he came to a stand still. "Rumour has it that your name is Sakura. Am I right?"  
  
"Er, yeah." Sakura replied, getting more confused by the second. How did a complete stranger know her name? "Who are you?"  
  
"Oh!", he exclaimed, slapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to put a hole through the wall of Gohan's house. "My name is Goku." Sakura gasped.  
  
"Goku?" she said, staring at him and suddenly knowing why he looked so familiar. "As in Kakarot Goku?" Goku nodded. "Wow!" Sakura said, still shocked. "Well, did you know Kanata. He was my father, and your brother."  
  
"No." Goku replied, looking shocked himself. "I don't know any of my Saiya-jin family apart from Raditz, and I'd rather not discuss that. I didn't even know I had another brother, let alone a niece. Weird!"  
  
"Erm, where am I, and what am I doing here?" Sakura asked, suddenly thinking of the question.  
  
"You're on Snake Way." Goku told her. "And you're dead."  
  
"I knew that I was dead - or meant to be. Just not where I am." Sakura told him. "How do I get off here?"  
  
"Easy!" Goku said, putting two fingers to his forehead, and one hand on her shoulder. "You come with me." Next thing Sakura knew, her feet had been pulled from the ground, and Goku's hand was stuck to her shoulder. It felt as though she was being pulled through space faster than the speed of light in a journey only to last a second. Completely out of the blue, her feet found solid ground again, and Sakura looked around her to see that she was standing in front of a huge mansion. "Grand Kai's Palace." Goku told her, pointing to the mansion. "Come on in." They walked into Grand Kai's Palace together, Goku's hand still on Sakura's shoulder as he lead her into a room on the right next to the front door.  
  
Sakura stared open-mouthed at what was in front of her. There was a huge banquet set out, and sitting around the table was her family. They stood up, and Sakura ran up to them, throwing her arms around them all. Sakura suddenly straightened up, and turned to Goku. "Goku," she said, her voice hopeful. "Is there any way I can speak to my friends who are still alive. Goku nodded, and without saying a word, he teleported. Sakura turned around to her family, but, before she said a word, there was a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Goku.  
  
"This is King Kai." He told her, pointing to somebody he had with him. King Kai was a short, plump little man. He had blue skin, and two long antenna on his head. He was wearing long 'robes' and sunglasses. "Ok then." Goku said, leading Sakura up to King Kai. "Just put your hand on his shoulder and he'll connect you to your friends. I sound like a telephone operator! Now, who do you want to speak to?"  
  
"Gohan." Sakura said without hesitation. Goku looked slightly taken aback, but he nodded. Both Goku and Sakura put a hand on King Kai's shoulder.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Gohan sat on his doorstep, unable to think of anything but what he had done to Sakura. All of the Z Warriors, ChiChi, Goten, Bulma and Trunks stood around him. A voice suddenly echoed around them.  
  
"Gohan?" Everybody looked up to the sky, bewildered looks on their faces. Gohan stood up  
  
"Sa-Sakura?" Gohan stammered, looking around him. "I am so sorry about…"  
  
"Gohan, stop it!", Sakura sounded almost exasperated as she said this, but her expression lightened immediately. "I just want to say thank you. Yeah, ok, it hurt, but because you did that, you're the best cousin I could ask for." Another voice suddenly sounded around them.  
  
"Hey guys!", Goku said, wishing he could wink at them all down there.  
  
"Goku?" ChiChi cried, her eyes shining. "Is it really you?"  
  
"Yup!", Goku replied. "I bumped into Sakura's family. They somehow failed to mention their names, or that they were related to me. They sensed Sakura's presence, so I went to meet her. Oh and Gohan I just want to tell you that I miss you loads. Gotta go!" Sakura and Goku's voices vanished, and never returned.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Goku spun around to see the Grand Kai standing behind him. "What?" he asked angrily, annoyed at having been torn from a conversation with his son.  
  
"The HFIL!", the Grand Kai gasped. "Cell - Furiza! They escaped from their cages! They are causing big trouble down in the HFIL!" Goku and Sakura looked at each other and nodded. Without a single word, Goku teleported them both to the HFIL.  



	17. Trouble In The HFIL

Chapter Seventeen - Trouble In The HFIL  
  
Goku and Sakura looked around at the area around them. Goku shook his head. "This place hasn't changed a bit in over two years." He said, looking around. "They really need to redecorate the HFIL sometime." Sakura sniggered before walking into the HFIL.  
  
Furiza stood fifty feet in front of her. Two 'people' stood next to him. One of them had green and black skin, and two long black wings. He had a self-satisfied sort of smirk on his face that made Sakura's insides turn to ice.  
  
The other creature had flaky, electric blue skin, except around his eyes and mouth, where the skin was smooth and white. He was completely bald, and on his forehead was a purple tattoo. It showed a circle containing a triangle with a large dot inside. He held his hands in front of him, and a ball of scarlet energy swirled around between his palms.  
  
"It's Goku!", Furiza gasped, staring at Goku, a slight fear in his eyes. "Why don't you meet my new friend. You already met Cell, didn't you? I don't believe you've met Akumasenka though. I also do not believe you will be laughing when you have caught a glimpse of his true power, monkey!" Then his eyes fell upon Sakura. "Well, well, well." He said smiling, the usual hiss in his voice. "It's my old friend. Sakura." Sakura gritted her teeth as she burned with rage.  
  
"I'll never be any friend of yours!", she spat, sparks flying from her eyes as she glared at Furiza. "You and your Namek friends killed so many people. Including my family, and myself!"  
  
"Unless I am mistaken, girl," Akumasenka cut in, smiling widely, and showing three rows of pointed teeth, like those of a shark. "I have reason to believe that it was a half-blooded freak who took your life. This monkey's son to be precise. I see his name in as I meditate. Gohan."  
  
Gohan? He thought to himself, turning this information over in his head. Gohan had killed Sakura. Why? "Is this true?", he asked Sakura, turning to her, a disappointment coming over him such as he had never felt. Could Gohan have deliberately killed Sakura?  
  
"Well, yes." Sakura said shuffling her feet and looking down at the ground. "But I told him to. I was binding a group of Nameks with my energy, and I told Gohan to fire a Kame-Hame-Ha at us. He did and I was killed." Goku nodded.  
  
"Well?" said Cell, stepping forward. "Aren't you going to fight us?"  
  
"Get real!" Goku laughed, one eyebrow raised. "Cell, I seem to remember you being defeated by my eleven year old son! And Furiza, Vegeta's son from the future beat you, and when he was raised, Vegeta was dead! You guys don't stand a chance!" Cell just laughed.  
  
"Furiza and I are not going to waste our time with you wimps." He said in a snobbish tone. "We will leave it to Akumasenka." Akumasenka smiled threateningly, baring every single one of his many teeth, and the ball of scarlet energy between his palms expanded.  
  
Sakura powered up dramatically. Her hair turned golden and rose up in its plait, her eyes became turquoise blue and her muscles bulged as she transformed into a Super Saiya-jin. Goku gaped for a moment, before powering up himself to a Super Saiya-jin. Sakura smiled for a moment, before the two of them ran towards Akumasenka, their energies blazing around them as one.  
  
Goku rushed up and kicked Akumasenka in the back of the head with the force to send him flying through a large mountain range. To his horror, the blow did not even phase him. Goku yelled, struggling to keep his cool. He would be useless in this fight if he let his anger take control. He gathered his energy, and fired a series of energy blasts at Akumasenka. The monster simply raised a hand, and the energy blasts went flying back towards Goku. Sakura screamed as the blasts hit Goku and sent him flying metres backwards into a wall. She ran up, just as Goku struggled to his feet and wiped blood from his eyes, forehead and mouth. He had put so much power into the attacks, that when they backfired upon him, they had wiped out even more of his energy.  
  
Akumasenka turned upon Sakura, and she backed away in fear. If Akumasenka had done such damage to Goku, then she could not possibly stand a chance. She looked up, and to her horror, Akumasenka was raising his hands, reforming the scarlet energy between his palms. He through the energy, and it hit Sakura with agonising power, but it did not stop there. The energy went inside her very body, and Sakura could somehow feel it wrapping itself around er soul. Sakura screamed in agony, and fell to the ground, unconscious. "Done!" Akumasenka said, smiling as he turned his back on Sakura's unconscious form.  
  
"What did you do to her?" Goku yelled to Akumasenka's back as he knelt down about three feet from Sakura. He couldn't get ant closer than that, because a clear wall of energy, like glass, had formed around her.  
  
"Imprisoned her spirit." He replied without turning back. "I suggest you get out of here Goku. You don't want to end up like your over-confident little niece over there. She really was not very clever. I would warn your pathetic little boy not to interfere as well. I will only destroy him"  
  
Goku snapped, and his rage took control. He yelled at the top of his lungs, and his energy exploded, engulfing the entire area around them. People and creatures in the HFIL went flying backwards, away from Goku's tremendous energy. The ground around him exploded, leaving an enormous cloud of dust and smoke around Goku through which nobody could see. No matter how hard anybody tried, they could not see the spectacular transformation that was taking place behind that thick curtain of smoke and dust. Nobody could see as Goku lost who he was altogether.  
  
Akumasenka squinted, and saw a figure emerging from within the cloud. It was Goku, but he had changed. His golden blonde hair stood straight up on his head like pins, and his muscles had dramatically expanded. His turquoise eyes did not show any of the usual kindness that usually shone there. They were empty and angry, and for the first time, he looked the way he had been intended to look when he was sent to Earth as a baby. Evil. He was not Goku any more, he was Kakarot as he was intended to be. The only thought on Kakarot's mind was to kill Akumasenka. He was not considering mercy, not like he had done when he had transformed into a Super Saiya-jin for the first time on Namek. He had just about held on to who he was then. This time, he had lost it. Kakarot did not care what he did, just as long as he stopped Akumasenka from hurting Gohan. Gohan. His son's name brought Goku back, forced Kakarot out, and Goku thought about what he was doing. Yes, he desperately wanted to destroy Akumasenka, but now was not the time. He would fight him, but right now, he needed to sort out who he was. Goku or Kakarot? Goku existed to do good, and to help the people on Earth, but Kakarot had been born to destroy the Earth. If he gave in to his rage, that would be who he would become. He fired a powerful energy blast at Akumasenka, who stumbled back and nearly fell as the blast hit him, and took off towards the Grand Kai's palace, leaving Sakura behind.  



	18. Let's Take An Army To The Other Dimensio...

Chapter Eighteen -   
Let's Take An Army To The Other Dimension  
  
Gohan paced around Dende's plateau impatiently waiting for Krillen to return with the last Dragonball. He had to wish Sakura back to this dimension, he just had to. Hearing his father's voice had upset him, and he wished so much that he could bring Goku back as well, but he could not. The Dragon had already revived Goku once before, and would not do it again, and Goku did not want to be brought back, even if they used the Namek Dragon, who would revive people as often as he was asked to.  
  
All of the Z Warriors sat on the steps of Dende's home apart from Gohan and Keiichi. Vegeta and Piccolo were in shock. They could not believe what Sakura had done. Vegeta kept saying that she had been stupid, but Bulma told Gohan that, if you translated that from what she called 'Vegeta language', then it meant he respected what she had done in his own way. Keiichi ran around Gohan's feet, chasing after a ball which he had dropped. It rolled towards the side, but Keiichi caught it just before it rolled off the edge. Gohan was about to say something, when a voice suddenly rang in his ears.  
  
"Gohan!", the voice said in a panic. It was Goku, but it did not sound like him. He sounded angry, dangerous and almost cruel. "There's this guy, he…"  
  
"Dad!" Gohan cried, interrupting. "What happened? Is Sakura there with you? Can I speak to her?"  
  
"Gohan!", Goku shouted, once again nearly letting who he was slip through his fingers. "Shut up! I need to tell you something, and I don't need you babbling in the background." Gohan was hurt, and Goku could tell. He regretted all he had just said, and tried even harder to control it. "Sorry." He said gently. "I'm having a little trouble holding on to my own personality. But, I need to tell you something really important. I don't think you will be able to revive Sakura."  
  
"Why?" Gohan cried, staring up into the sky while Keiichi looked on in fear as though he thought Gohan was having some sort of fit.  
  
"There's this guy in the HFIL called Akumasenka." Goku explained quickly, not wanting to miss a second, he still had to get used to his new form and get Sakura back. "He's a really powerful - er - magician or something. He's strong - stronger than a level two Super Saiya-jin. I fired a blast at him, after my transformation, and he barely stumbled. He threw something at Sakura though. It knocked her out and locked her in this kind of invisible dome. He said he had 'imprisoned her spirit'. I'm going to be training for a long time before I can even think about trying to get her out. Remember, you can't help her." With those final words, Goku once again left Gohan speechless.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Krillen landed on Dende's plateau with the lat Dragonball and ran up to Gohan. "Hey!", he called, sitting down beside him. "I got it. Now we can bring her back!"  
  
"We can try." Gohan said glumly, looking up at Krillen, his eyes once again shining with tears. "My dad said we might not be able to." Krillen raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Gohan." He sighed, looking down at his hands and feeling very sorry for Gohan. He and #18 had been the only people not there when Goku had spoken to the Z Warriors just after Sakura had died, and he had practically forgotten hearing Goku's voice two years earlier. "I don't mean to sound insensitive or any thing," he said slowly and hesitantly, "I mean, I know you've been going through a hard time and all, but - well, er - your dad's dead." Gohan looked up angrily.  
  
"I know that!", he snapped at Krillen. "My dad sometimes speaks. Remember, two years ago, we were here and Dad said he didn't want to come back!" He would have gone on for longer, but Krillen suddenly remembered. He nodded, and looked down at the Dragonball.  
  
"Let's not waste a wish. We might need it soon." Gohan looked up, getting the wrong idea out of what Krillen had said.  
  
"That's it!" he shouted, jumping to his feet and running up to the rest of the Z Warriors.  
  
"What's it? What's it?" Krillen asked as he ran after him. He had no idea what Gohan was going on about.  
  
Gohan ran up to the step on which the rest of the Z Warriors were sitting. He sat down next to Trunks and looked up. "We need a really big gang - and army even." He blurted out after a couple of seconds. Trunks looked at Gohan.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Vegeta spat from the other side of Trunks, his brow furrowed and his fists clenched as though the idea of Gohan suggesting anything made him want to strangle the boy. He looked as though he would have stood up to knock some sense into Gohan, but luckily he had Chibi Trunks on his knee, so he could not.  
  
"There's this guy holding Sakura's spirit prisoner or something like that. We need to go and get her back. Dad said that this guy's stronger than a level two Super Saiya-jin, and Dad could not beat him even after he transformed. I think he's level two like me, and still can't beat him. Maybe a whole gang of us can." The group exchanged nervous glances.  
  
"What about the kids?" Trunks and Piccolo asked together. Vegeta looked up. "We could leave them with Bulma and my mom." Gohan answered quickly. "I doubt they'd want to come, so we could leave them at Bulma's place and she and my mom could baby-sit."  
  
"That sounds fine by me." Trunks said, standing up with Sayoke held in one arm. "Father, what do you say?" Vegeta sat for a moment, looking between Trunks and Gohan.  
  
"I say we had better go and speak to Bulma and ChiChi." He said, standing up. Everybody smiled, and they all flew down to the Brief house.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"You want us to WHAT?" Bulma shrieked, staring at Gohan, Trunks and Vegeta like they were all insane. We can't look after four small children between the two of us. Do you know how much trouble they can be." Gohan, Vegeta and Trunks all nodded. "OK, so you have and inkling of what they can be like, but four at once." Vegeta suddenly stepped forward and smiled.  
  
"Please?" he said simply, keeping strong eye contact with Bulma. He obviously missed fighting and wanted a good battle to shake the cobwebs. Bulma stared at his eyes for about two seconds before she snapped.  
  
"OK!" She cried, letting her arms fall to her sides. "We'll do it." Vegeta smiled a satisfied grin as he walked away, while Gohan, Trunks and the rest of the Z Warriors gaped after him. They were all thinking one thing - How did he do that? Vegeta turned around.  
  
"Thanks Bulma." He said quickly, and noticed everybody staring. "What?" he asked, as though he had no idea what they were so shocked about. He had lived with Bulma ages now, he was bound to know how to get to her.  
  
The Z Warriors then set to work, preparing for the upcoming battle.  



	19. The Children Escape

Chapter Nineteen - The Children Escape  
  
The Z Warriors stood outside Bulma's house looking up at the sky. It was going to be a long journey up to Snake Way, and then they had to get to the HFIL itself. They could all tell that it would not be an easy trip.  
  
"OK people!", Bulma said cheerfully walking out of the house with Sayoke and Goten in her arms and Keiichi and Trunks toddling after her. "Are you guys ready to go? We don't want to keep Sakura waiting. OK, have fun destroying people. Bye-bye!" Everybody gaped at her.  
  
"Why are you so cheerful, Bulma?" Chao-zu asked in his extremely squeaky voice.  
  
"Yeah!", Tien added curiously, "And why are you so eager for us to go?"  
  
"Hey!" Bulma cried, staring at them. "I'm just looking forward to having the house so quiet!" Everybody looked at her suspiciously, but they soon let it go. They had more important matters to deal with.  
  
Bulma watched from the ground as the Z Warriors took to the skies. As soon as they were all out of sight, she busied herself with her own war - her and ChiChi against four tiny children. She had a feeling it was not going to be easy.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Bulma yawned as she walked out of the spare bedroom. All four of the children were now fast asleep, and as far as she was concerned, it was her turn. She and ChiChi slouched towards their beds. After looking after all four of the children between them, they were now extremely tired.  
  
Bulma put her book down and looked beside her. It was half past eleven and she was desperate for some sleep. She drained the remainder of her cocoa, and turned out her bedside lamp.  
  
The lamp suddenly flickered on once again just a minute or two after Bulma had turned it off. She was sure she had heard a noise from the bedroom next to her, were Keiichi slept. She listened hard for a couple more minutes, but she heard nothing. She turned her light back off, and went straight to sleep.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Keiichi climbed slowly out of his bed, careful not to make another sound. He missed Piccolo. Keiichi had not been away from his father since his birth, and he wanted to find him again. He liked Bulma, but he was so much like his father to want to spend so long with somebody who is always so loud and carefree. He wanted to be with somebody serious, and his father fitted that description perfectly.  
  
He crept silently into Trunks' bedroom, careful not to stand on any creaking floorboards or to let any doors squeak. Trunks slowly stirred from his peaceful sleep, and saw Keiichi standing on his bed shaking him awake. "Trunks," Keiichi asked quickly and quietly. "Do you want to go see your Daddy?"  
  
"Uh huh." Trunks said quietly, staring at Keiichi. "Where is my Daddy?"  
  
"With mine." Replied Keiichi, climbing quietly off the bed. "Let's get the others and go." He pulled on Trunks' arm, and the two of them left the room as silently as they could.  
  
* * * * *  
Trunks and Keiichi stood outside Bulma's house, Trunks holding onto Goten's shoulders so he did not fall, and Keiichi holding Sayoke under the arms so she could be pulled along with them. "What now?" Trunks asked slowly, still struggling to find words as he formed his short sentences. Keiichi pointed towards a small Capsule Corp. ship a short distance away.  
  
The four toddlers walked slowly towards the ship. Trunks walked slowly with Goten, who kept stumbling over his short stumpy little legs. Keiichi walked backwards towards the ship, dragging Sayoke along with him with some difficulty.  
  
They arrived at the ship, and Keiichi opened the door. Inside the ship was tiny. There was just about enough room for them to move around to get to their seats. Keiichi strapped Sayoke into one of the front seats, and him Goten and Trunks sat down themselves, their feet barely reaching the edge of their chairs. Keiichi pressed a button, and the door shut with a deafening slam.   
  
* * * * *  
Bulma sat bolt upright and rushed to her window. To her horror the lights to the small space ship her dad had been working on were switched on. She rushed next door, and found what she had been dreading - Keiichi was gone. One by one, she dashed to each of the toddler's bedrooms, sincerely regretting not just putting them in Trunks' room. All of them were gone.  
  
She ran outside and arrived at the ship just as Keiichi inside discovered the 'Take Off' button. The ship rose into the air and slowly up towards the clouds, leaving Bulma screaming after it from the ground, jumping up and down in a panic.   
  
She opened her hand, to reveal a small capsule, which she threw hard at the grown. There was a slight bang, and a small but fast plane appeared in front of Bulma. She jumped inside and strapped herself in. It looked as though she would have to go to the fight after all, and she really did not want to. Bulma's plane took off after Keiichi's ship, and Bulma too soared high into the night sky.  



	20. A Battle In The HFIL

Chapter Twenty - A Battle In The HFIL  
  
It was Trunks who landed first outside the Grand Kai's palace, closely followed by the rest of the Z Warriors. An old man was sitting on the steps of the palace listening to a stereo which he had resting on his left shoulder. He had white hair and a white beard, and he was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, a rather large pair of sunglasses, and an extremely colourful baseball cap.  
  
The Z Warriors walked up to the old man, and Trunks cleared his throat to get his attention. The man looked up, and turned his stereo off. "What can I do for you, dudes?" he asked, seeming much more like a teenage hippy than an elderly man.  
  
"Erm - we're looking for the HFIL, sir." Trunks said, recovering from his shock after discovering the old man's unique personality. "Could you tell us where that is, please?" The man hesitated, looking at the Z Warriors with curiosity. Vegeta rolled his eyes impatiently, fed up of his son's manners.  
  
"He means, which way is the HFIL, old man!", he shouted, sick and tired of waiting for answers. The old man stood up and glared at Vegeta.  
  
"You want to watch your manners!", he said angrily, looking Vegeta up and down. "Your friend here has the right idea. You need to learn some respect." Vegeta was taken aback, and he stepped forward, about to start a fight with the man, when Trunks stepped in.  
  
"Please excuse my father, sir." He said politely, casting a dark look at Vegeta. "He's not a very patient man, and we are in a big hurry. Could you please tell us the way to the HFIL? We have a friend there in desperate need of our help."  
  
"Sure," the old man said, smiling at Trunks. He then pointed to a spot far in the distance. "The HFIL is that way. I'd be careful though, a friend of mine came back in a pretty bad way after fighting some liv'un. He's pretty worried about his niece." Gohan was about to ask whether he meant Goku, but Trunks grabbed his arm, and dragged him with his as he flew in the direction of the HFIL.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Sakura stood inside the dome of clear energy, looking up at the sky. She could sense nine power levels approaching, and she recognised them as those of the Z Warriors. To her dismay, Goku was not with them. She looked across at Akumasenka, and saw him turn his ugly face towards the sky.  
  
#18 landed hard on the ground, and ran up to the middle of the HFIL, where Sakura stood inside the dome. She reached towards her, but could not reach past the glass-like energy dome. "Krillen!", she shouted, turning around to see her fiancée landing nearby. "Get over here!" Krillen rushed over, but no matter how hard the kicked and punched at the energy, they could not get through.  
  
"You can not break through it." An icy voice said from behind them. "Androids and humans are nowhere near strong enough to get her out. You would have to kill me, Akumasenka, first, and trust me, for weaklings like you, that is an impossibility."  
  
#18 charged at Akumasenka, her fists clenched and her eyes flashing. Akumasenka simply brushed hr aside. "Do not attempt to fight me, my dear." He said calmly, walking up to her as she clambered to her feet. "We do not want to scar that lovely face of yours." He touched her cheek gently, smiling as he stared into her big blue eyes, which were wide with fear and disgust, and Krillen kicked him in the back of the head with as much force as he could muster.  
  
"Hands off!", he yelled, powering up in a rage. "She's spoken for!"  
  
"Couldn't have said it better myself!", #18 called across to him as she recovered her nerve. There was something hypnotising about this guys eyes. As he stared into her eyes, she found it impossible to move, or even breathe. "Lay one more finger on me, twerp," she yelled across to Akumasenka, "And I promise I'll break every bone in your miserable body!"  
  
Krillen went to attack, but Akumasenka dodged out of the way, and grabbed #18 around the waist so hard, she could not breathe. Krillen stopped dead. "Attack me, and your girl friend is toast." Akumasenka said, stroking #18's soft, blonde hair. He smiled down at her, and kissed her cheek. She tried to pull away, but Akumasenka held her head still where it was. Krillen looked, his blood nearly boiling in rage. #18 was terrified, he could tell. She did not get scared easily, but this was one of those rare occasions when she was terrified. This guy was so much stronger than her, and really did not want to let her go. A single tear rolled down #18's face as she silently pleaded with Krillen. She could not breathe, and the edges of her vision went fuzzy. Krillen watched in horror as her body went limp.  
  
Akumasenka suddenly dropped #18 as his head slammed forward into his chest. Krillen rushed to catch #18, and looked up to see a Super Saiya-jin Vegeta standing in front of Akumasenka breathing hard. "If there is one thing I hate," he said slowly and clearly, "It's perverted freaks like you! Hands off!"  
  
Krillen stared. Vegeta had just saved #18, and intentionally saved her. He could not believe it.  
  
Vegeta darted towards Akumasenka, but stopped. In the distance, there was a sudden and loud explosion. He looked up towards the sky, to see what looked like a small plane flying straight towards them. It landed just metres away, and Bulma climbed out.  
  
"Hi guys!" she called, smiling and waving up at them all. Gohan, Trunks, Vegeta and Piccolo ran up to her.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Gohan asked, staring at her with an eyebrow raised.  
  
"Yeah," Trunks added, staring at her. "And where are the kids?  
  
"Well," Bulma said, looking down at her shoes. "I was hoping you guys would know. They ran away for here in the night." Trunks stared.  
  
"Mom!" he shouted staring at her. "This fight is difficult enough without having to worry about where my daughter is. Find them!"  
  
"Bulma!" Piccolo added angrily. "How could you lose them? Find Keiichi now, or your life won't be worth living!"  
  
"AAAAARGH!" Everybody spun around to see Vegeta standing, his hands clenched over his stomach. He fell to the ground, and blood oozed through his fingers. Bulma screamed and knelt down beside him. She pulled his hands away, to reveal a large hole right through him. Akumasenka stood over them, his right fist covered in red blood.  
  
Bulma put her hand under Vegeta's neck, supporting his head. He looked up at her, his eyes shining with tears. "I'm - sorry - Bulma." He gasped, looking up at her and starting to cry. "I lo-." The last sentence was forced out of Vegeta's lungs before he had even finished speaking it, as death crept upon him. Bulma shook her head, as Vegeta's eyes slowly closed. Vegeta, the proud Prince of all Saiya-jins, had breathed his last breath.  
  
Bulma began to sob. She stroked Vegeta's face softly, and buried her head in his chest. "No." She sobbed, her eyes staring at his chin. "Come back. Come back." Vegeta stayed dead, and Bulma closed her eyes. "I love you." She whispered, as she thought of Vegeta, gone from her life forever."  



	21. Bulma Gets Desperate

Chapter Twenty-One - Bulma Gets Desperate  
  
Bulma stood up, tears staining her face as she looked down at the dead body of the man she loved. The Z Warriors looked at her with both sympathy and grief for Vegeta, and Gohan found he got a lump in his throat whenever he thought of Vegeta's terrible fate.  
  
"He didn't deserve to die." Bulma said, turning around to face the group, her eyes wide with shock. "All he did was save #18's miserable little life."  
  
"Hey!" #18 cut in, but Krillen held up a hand to silence her, and she was quiet. Piccolo nodded and put a comforting hand on Bulma's shoulder.  
  
"He was a good man really." Bulma continued, still staring at Vegeta's body. "He may have been evil in the past, but he was forced to be that way. Furiza forced him to kill from when he was a little boy. How could anybody expect him to grow up to be any different? He changed though, when he came to Earth, he really changed. He became a good man fighting to save people. He always pretended he didn't love Trunks, or me, and everybody just accepted that as the truth. They didn't know him like I did. I knew he cared about us really; I don't know how I knew, I just knew." Bulma took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. "I just wish there was some way I could bring him -" Bulma stopped mid-sentence and though about what she had said. She looked at the HFIL around her, and her eyes widened with sudden realization.  
  
"Bulma?" Gohan said carefully, trying to read the expression on her face. Bulma looked up and made a decision.  
  
"Gotta go." she said quickly and hurried towards her plane, a group of extremely confused Z Warriors following close behind.  
  
Bulma jumped into her plane, and before any of the Z Warriors could protest or try to stop her, she had already taken off.  
  
As the Z Warriors watched Bulma fly off into the distance, Akumasenka charged at Gohan.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Bulma tried to concentrate on steering her plane as she thought about what had happened to Vegeta. It had been so horrible, so fast. He had tried to say something to her, but he had never had the chance. It did not matter though; Bulma knew what he had been trying to say. Akumasenka's act had prevented Vegeta from opening his heart for the first time, and she would see him dead because of it. For now though, she had to deal with the matter at hand.  
  
For around ten minutes, Bulma kept flying concentrating on nothing but getting where she wanted to be, until something caught her eye.  
  
Bulma hovered in the air as she looked out of her window. Four tiny, little people were walking underneath her. Four children; one with black hair, two with lilac hair, and one who didn't have any hair at all, just a bright green, bald head. Bulma chuckled to herself, and moved in to land.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Not long now, guys." Keiichi said reassuringly, noticing the bored and tired expressions on his friends' faces. "I'm almost sure that's my daddy's energy I'm sensing. Huh? That's funny. Trunks, your Dad's energy's totally vanished. That's not good."  
  
Keiichi looked over at Trunks, and could see from the look on his face that he obviously had no idea whatsoever about energy or that you could sense it. "Saiya-jins." Keiichi muttered, and the four of them kept on walking.  
  
Around five minutes later, as the children passed yet another group of terrified 'somethings', a loud humming filled the air, gradually growing louder and louder. Keiichi, Trunks and Goten all looked up to see Bulma's large, yellow Capsule corp. plane coming down to land about ten feet away from them. Sayoke's cries were added to the din as she woke from her sleep.  
  
Bulma landed her plane perfectly, and hurriedly climbed out to meet the four children as they stared at her ship.  
  
"And just where do you think you're going?" she asked as soon as she reached them.  
  
Bulma flew her plane through the HFIL, the four children sitting on the seats around her. "Keiichi," she lectured, not hesitating at all as she expressed her disappointment in them. "You should know better. Do you have any idea how angry your dad is? He nearly killed me there and then when I told him you'd all ran off!" Keiichi hung his head in shame.  
  
"Aha!" Bulma cried, looking at the land below. "Here we are."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Bulma walked through dripping tunnels, traveling deeper and deeper underground, with Sayoke in her arms, and Trunks, Goten and Keiichi hurrying to keep up behind her. Bulma knew this guy like caves and tunnels, that was how she had found him, but she had never expected it to be quite this bad.  
  
The tunnel walls, ceiling and floor were wet, covered with some sort of slimy gunge that even Bulma could not identify; pictures of young children had been carved into the walls, and more pictures showed both children and adults screaming in pain as large swirls emerged from their bodies.  
  
Bulma thought of turning back, but she reminded herself of Vegeta, took a deep breath and carried on walking, trying not to think of what she was stepping in, or where it came from.  
  
After almost twenty minutes of continuous walking, Bulma finally reached an opening at the end of the tunnels. She stepped into the light, and found that she had just entered an enormous throne room.  
  
In the middle of the wall opposite her, surrounded by guards, was a large, ornate gold throne, upon which sat the most terrifying creature Bulma had ever encountered, not because he looked frightening, but because she knew what he could do.  
  
"You there!" the creature roared at Bulma, his eyes ablaze with fury. "Who are you? How dare you trespass here?"  
  
The creature had skin that resembled pure silver, shining brightly in the light that numerous candles around him emitted, eyes that were also silver in colour, and long, silver fingernails and fang-like teeth. His long, straight hair, which fell to near his waist, closely resembled flowing melted silver.  
  
Bulma gulped, and walked slowly towards him, her knees trembling in fear. Goten, Trunks and Keiichi continued to follow her and Sayoke remained asleep in her arms.  
  
"Vileddae." She said quietly when she reached the great gold throne. "I came here to make a request."  
  
Vileddae looked at Bulma thoughtfully before he spoke again. "And what request would that be?"  
  
"My - er - partner has just been killed, over in the HFIL. I really need him alive. Please could you revive him? Please?"  
  
"I can." Vileddae replied, grinning at Bulma, an evil glint in his sharp silver eyes. "But it comes with a cost."  
  
"What do you want?" Bulma asked nervously, not wanting to know what Vileddae would ask for.  
  
"Well, I am quite a dedicated collector of souls." Vileddae informed her, pointing out shelves against his walls that were full of large crystal vials containing glowing wisps of bright, colourful matter that could not be identified as either a liquid or a gas. "Your soul appears quite lovely. Who do you want to revive?"  
  
"Fine." Bulma said quickly, not wanting to rethink her decision too soon. "You can have my soul. Now I want you to revive Vegeta, the Saiya-jin Prince."  
  
Vileddae stared at Bulma, his mouth slightly open in shock. "The Saiya-jin prince?" he repeated, still staring at Bulma, who nodded silently. "I'm afraid that will cost more than just your soul. A lot more."  
  
"What more do you want?" Bulma asked, tears beginning to form in her eyes. What if she couldn't bring him back?  
  
"Well," Vileddae replied, once again grinning evilly. "I also happen to be a dedicated collector of young children. I notice you just happen to have brought four along with you."  



	22. The Prince Lives On

Chapter Twenty-Two - The Prince Lives On  
  
"You want me to give you the kids?" Bulma asked, her eyes wide in horror. "My son? My granddaughter? The children my friends asked me to look after? You want me to let you kill them?"  
  
"Kill them?" Vileddae repeated, the corners of his mouth curving upwards in a small smile. "Who said anything about killing them? I just keep them as ornaments in glass cells around my home. I would never kill a child. They're too much fun to just watch."  
  
Bulma thought for a moment. If he wasn't planning to kill them, then there could still be hope. Look at who their families are. Gohan, Piccolo, Trunks. Vegeta. If she gave them over, then they could just come and get them back later.  
  
"Fine." Bulma confirmed finally, looking back up at Vileddae. "You can take my soul and these children, and you bring Vegeta back to the land of the living."  
  
Vileddae smiled again, and waved his hand through the air. Sayoke was suddenly gone from Bulma's arms, and all four children appeared in glass cells next to the gold throne. Vileddae smiled once again.  
  
"This may hurt a little." Vileddae informed Bulma gleefully. "Then, you shall be returned to the Princes corpse, he will reawaken, and it will take you a little while to feel the emptiness where your soul should be."  
  
He raised his hand, and turned his palm towards Bulma. She stood looking at him for a few seconds, before she felt the pain. It felt as though somebody had plunged red-hot pokers into her chest and were now trying to use them to tear out her still beating heart. Bulma's screams filled the room as the torture continued.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety eight. Nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine. Ten thousand!" Goku lowered his feet to the ground and lifted his hands off the floor. He wiped his brow and took several deep breaths. He was just about to lie down for a quick rest, when he was interrupted.  
  
"Hey! Goku!" He turned around to see King Kai and the Grand Kai running towards him.  
  
"What?" He asked, looking at their panicky faces. "King Kai! What's going on?"  
  
"It's in the HFIL!" The Grand Kai said urgently. There are people there. Live people!"  
  
"What?" Goku cried, a horrible feeling of dread forming in his heart. "How did they get there?"  
  
"I don't know!" The Grand Kai shouted. "But I do know this: one of them has already died!"  
  
"It was Vegeta!" King Kai cried, looking up at Goku. "He's the one who died. And I can tell you this; more are going to die if you don't get yourself down there now!"  
  
"Gohan." Goku gasped, looking up at the sky. "Please tell me Gohan isn't there."  
  
"Probably." King Kai said. "You know Gohan. If there's a fight, he'll be there. But, just to cheer you up; what do you get if you mix a sheepdog with a jelly?" Goku stared at King Kai, beginning to feel slightly annoyed with his ridiculous jokes all the time. "The collie wobbles!" King Kai finished, looking hopefully at Goku. Goku just put two fingers to his forehead, and instantly translocated.  
  
* * * * *   
  
Goku looked around the HFIL and spotted Piccolo and his other friends standing about twenty-five feet away. He ran over to them, and stopped behind Piccolo, careful not to make a sound. He wanted to surprise them.  
  
"What's going on?" Goku said loudly from right behind Piccolo. Everybody jumped.  
  
"Goku!" They all cried, staring at him.  
  
"Hi guys!" Goku said. What's going on?"  
  
"Thank goodness you're here," Krillen said happily. "Things aren't looking good. He already killed Vegeta." Goku nodded and looked at Vegeta's body.  
  
"Yeah." Goku said sadly. "I heard." He continued to look at Vegeta for a while, when all of a sudden, somebody appeared on the ground next to Vegeta.  
  
"Bulma!" Goku rushed up to Bulma and knelt down beside her. Slowly, she stirred.  
  
"I'm OK." Bulma said slowly. "I'll be fine." She stood up and supported herself on Goku's arms.  
  
"You Ok?" Goku asked her carefully. "You looked kind of pale." Bulma nodded.  
  
"Are you sure?" Said a voice from behind her. She spun around to see Vegeta slowly getting to his feet.  
  
"Vegeta!" Bulma cried, and threw her arms around Vegeta, hugging him tightly. "Your alive!"  
  
"I did notice." Vegeta replied, blushing slightly.  
  
"Did you find them?" Piccolo asked, interrupting Vegeta and Bulma's reunion. "Did you find the kids?"  
  
Bulma pulled away from Vegeta and looked at Piccolo, Trunks and Gohan. "Well, yes." She replied, looking down at her feet.  
  
"Well?" Piccolo said gruffly. "Where are they."  
  
Bulma looked up nervously. "I sold them." She said quickly. "To bring Vegeta back."  
  
Piccolo lost his temper, and pushed Bulma angrily. She flew through the air several feet before landing hard next to a rock.  
  
"Hey!" Vegeta shouted, surprised himself that he was actually defending Bulma. He punched Piccolo in the face, and stood back. "We have all lost our child here."  
  
"What do you care?" Gohan shouted, finally joining in. "You don't care about Trunks! But Trunks cares about Sayoke, Piccolo cares about Keiichi, and I care about Goten!"  
  
"I'm not saying Bulma should have sold the children, but there is no point attacking her now!"  
  
"What children?" Goku asked, starting to get very confused. "Who's Sayoke? Who's Keiichi? Who's Goten? What are you guys talking about?" Everybody ignored him.  
  
Piccolo walked up to Bulma and stood over her as she slowly stood up. "I'm warning you Bulma," he said slowly and angrily. "If Keiichi has so much as a scratch on his face, the same will happen to you, ten time worse."  
  
"Who's Keiichi?" Goku asked, but was still ignored.  
  
"Relax Green-" Vegeta stopped half way through his sentence as Bulma's scream pierced the air. She fell to the ground, and Vegeta hurried over to her. "What is it now?" He asked sternly, kneeling down beside her.  
  
"My soul." Bulma whispered, her breath coming short and fast as she struggled against the pain in her chest. "I sold him my soul."  
  
"Oh, for goodness sake!" Vegeta shouted irritably. He bent down and picked Bulma up off the ground, placing her arm around his shoulders. "You are all coming with me." He commanded the Z Warriors.  
  
"Where to?" Goku asked, still only knowing half of what Bulma had been talking about.  
  
"We are going to get your son back." Vegeta replied, rising off the ground and keeping tight hold of Bulma.  
  
"And your son." Piccolo shouted as he rose up as well. "And my son, and Trunks' daughter."  
  
"Yes, yes." Vegeta shouted irritably, brushing off what Piccolo had said. "Sorry." He said to Akumasenka. "I'm afraid this battle will just have to be postponed."  



	23. Return Our Children

Chapter Twenty-Three - Return Our Children!  
  
The Z Warriors flew towards Vileddae's home without stopping once. Bulma was rapidly weakening in Vegeta's arms, the life being slowly sucked from her, pulled towards her separated soul. As they flew, Vegeta was unable to stop himself from feeling concern for Bulma. It was becoming a race against time: get to Vileddae before Bulma loses her grasp on life.  
  
"Hold on Bulma!" Vegeta muttered, half to himself, and half to Bulma. "Don't you dare give up." Bulma looked up and recognized the fear etched into Vegeta's face. He was frightened for her.  
  
"I won't," she whispered, before allowing her head to fall back.  
  
"Hurry up!" Vegeta shouted to the Z Warriors behind him. "We're running out of time!" The Z Warriors took a deep breath, and doubled their speed as they rushed towards Vileddae's home.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Vegeta landed outside Vileddae's home first, and he wasted no time waiting for the rest of the Z Warriors before rushing into the dark tunnels with Bulma still held in his arms. Goku and the rest of the Z Warriors stopped and watched him hurry into the tunnels.  
  
"Wow." Goku said in mild surprise. "He must really care about Bulma. Who'd have guessed?" The other Z Warriors shrugged before rushing into the tunnels themselves, Goku taking the lead.  
  
The Z Warriors soon caught up with Vegeta, and the eleven of them traipsed their way through slime and dirt, hoping to find Vileddae's home lying just around the corner. However, when they did reach it, it was nothing like they had expected.  
  
"Wow!" Krillen cried, looking around at the vast throne room before him. "Talk about living in style!"  
  
"Personally, " Vegeta said casually "I prefer mine and Bulma's place."  
  
"Technically it's not yours and Bulma's place." Goku said cheerfully. "Your just a lodger really, aren't you Vegeta."  
  
Vegeta glowered at him before advancing towards Vileddae, still carrying Bulma.  
  
"Give me her soul." He demanded angrily as soon as he stood before Vileddae. "I need it now." Vileddae chuckled amusedly, and looked curiously at Vegeta.  
  
"Vegeta isn't it?" he said after he had finished chortling to himself. "Well, you really don't appreciate the sacrifices people give up for you, do you? She gave it to me to bring you back, so I really can not return it."  
  
"I very much doubt you told her it was going to kill her!" Vegeta shouted, rage beginning to take over.  
  
"She didn't ask." Was Vileddae's only response.  
  
"Give me the soul or I'm going to squash you like a bug!" Vegeta roared. Vileddae shook his head.  
  
Vegeta smirked and raised his hand towards Vileddae's subjects. Energy shot from the palm of his hand, and all that remained of the subjects was several pieces of shredded clothing and thick clouds of smoke. Vileddae looked at Vegeta in alarm.  
  
"Fine!" He roared, "Take the soul!"  
  
Vileddae waved his hand through the air, and a single crystal vial, a little larger than a thumb, appeared floating in mid-air before him. He grabbed the vial from the air and threw it at Vegeta, who caught it effortlessly.  
  
"Good." Vegeta said tauntingly, "Now how do I get it back into her?" Vileddae scowled, and rolled his eyes.  
  
"She drinks it, you fool!" He snarled angrily, barely able to look at Vegeta. "You open the vial, and she drinks it." Vegeta nodded and snapped open the vial.  
  
Slowly, Vegeta poured the gas like liquid from the vial into Bulma's mouth. She swallowed the liquid and passed out in Vegeta's arms.  
  
"You lied to me!" Vegeta roared, his hair turning golden and his eyes turning green as he powered up to the level of a Super Saiya-jin.  
  
"No!" Vileddae cried, becoming overwhelmed by terror. "It takes time! She'll wake up soon, and she'll be back to normal! I swear!"  
  
"Good." Vegeta agreed, still staying a Super Saiya-jin, "Now, you have four children whom Bulma foolishly gave to you. Hand them over."  
  
"Not a chance." Vileddae said curtly, "They're mine now." Vegeta sneered and raised his hand towards more of Vileddae's subjects. Before he had the chance to attack, Bulma stirred in his arms.  
  
"Vegeta?" She whispered weakly.  
  
"What?" Vegeta asked, still not putting Bulma down. "If you can stand up, I'll let you stand up, but if not, you're going to have to keep making my job more difficult."  
  
"I'm fine." Bulma said looking around her sleepily, "You can stand me up. Vegeta stood Bulma on the ground, keeping tight hold of her shoulders. Bulma nodded and he let go. Bulma swayed on the spot for a couple of seconds, and Vegeta grabbed hold of her shoulder again.  
  
"Now," Vegeta said calmly to Vileddae, "The children?" Vileddae looked furious. After glaring at Vegeta for almost a minute, he finally relented.  
  
"Fine!" He shouted again. "Take the stupid brats!"  
  
"What stupid brats?" Goku asked from the background, still oblivious as to whom these children were. Yet again, he was ignored.  
  
Vileddae waved his hand yet again, and Chibi Trunks, Goten, Keiichi and Sayoke fell from thin air into a heap at Vegeta's feet. Vegeta smiled triumphantly.  
  
"Good." He said, pulling Chibi Trunks from the pile on the ground. "Now, " he said to Vileddae, "You are never going to buy my son again! And you!" he shouted to Bulma "You are never going to sell my son again!" Bulma nodded silently.  
  
The Z Warriors turned and walked away, Piccolo picking up Keiichi, Gohan picking up Goten, and Trunks picking up Sayoke. Just before they left the cave, Vegeta turned around to face Vileddae.  
  
"I'm going to make sure you never buy my son again." He said, just loud enough for Vileddae to hear. He raised his hand, fired a blast of energy, and Vileddae was gone.  



	24. The Battle Commences

Chapter Twenty-Four - The Battle Commences  
  
The Z Warriors landed back at the battle scene in the HFIL with an air of triumph surrounding them. Such an atmosphere was not to last long. Sakura was still caged inside her dome of energy, and Akumasenka was amusing himself with his newfound friends. He, Cell, Furiza and some other monsters that had joined their group of terror were busy torturing the other residents of the HFIL when the Z Warriors landed.  
  
"Well," Vegeta said, an amused expression pasted on his face. "Isn't this just typical. Children playing with toys." Akumasenka and his gang spun around and snarled at Vegeta.  
  
"You!" Akumasenka hissed, baring his rows and rows of razor sharp teeth. "I thought you'd cleared off out of my way for good!"  
  
"Oh no," Vegeta sneered, glaring bitterly at Akumasenka. "Like I said, the battle was merely postponed."  
  
Akumasenka smiled, and turned to face Vegeta. "Very well." He said, clenching his fists tightly, "Let's finish this."  
  
Vegeta smiled triumphantly and began to power up. He roared as his power increased sharply, as his muscles bulged, as his eyes changed from black to turquoise-green, and as his hair turned from black to gold. Following Vegeta' s lead, Goku, Gohan and Trunks all powered up to become Super Saiya-jins. They all changed in appearance and in power; their hair became golden-yellow, their eyes became green, and their power levels soared.  
  
Akumasenka looked at them for a moment, a moment of fear sparking in his eyes before he smiled confidently. He took a deep breath and flew towards the group of powerful Super Saiya-jins.  
  
Trunks attacked Akumasenka, mercilessly kicking and punching wherever he could reach, using every ounce of his super Saiya-jin strength to fight the monster. You can do it, Trunks he thought to himself as he fired an energy blast at Akumasenka's head, you have to do it. If you don't beat him, this monster's gonna kill everybody here - including Sayoke.  
  
Trunks continued to fight as Piccolo, Yamcha, Krillen, #18, Tien and Chao-zu joined the fight.  
  
Piccolo ran over to Furiza and attacked him ruthlessly, not stopping for so much as breath as he pounded at the changeling's pathetic body. Keiichi watched proudly as Piccolo fought like this.  
  
"Go Daddy!" He shouted through the fight as Piccolo continued to tirelessly attack Furiza. Goku glanced over at Keiichi through his fight with Cell, trying to determine exactly who the Namek child was.  
  
Piccolo also glanced over at Keiichi, and Furiza took advantage of this short distraction. He gathered all the energy he could muster, and span around, sending Piccolo flying through the air with a sharp and powerful flick of his tail.  
  
"No!" Keiichi screamed as Piccolo slammed against a rock. "Daddy!" Keiichi ran towards Furiza, too much like Piccolo too just stand aside as his only parent was attacked.  
  
Keiichi kicked Furiza sharply in the chin, putting as much power as possible behind his tiny body. Too small to have any effect, Keiichi fell to the ground after his failed assault on Furiza.  
  
Furiza looked around him, searching for the source of that sudden, painless attack. He lowered his eyes to the ground, and saw Keiichi sitting in a crumpled heap at his feet.  
  
"Well, well, well." He hissed, his snake-like voice chilling Keiichi to the bones. "Here we have it. Well, you are brave." Furiza reached down with his tail, and wrapped it tightly around Keiichi's neck, lifting him off the ground. The young Namek struggled to breath and cry for help, but not a breath of air could enter or leave his lungs.  
  
Goku and Gohan both took a step back and gathered their energy. "KA - ME - HA - ME" They took a long, deep breath, gathering more energy as they made the final preparations for their joint attack on Cell, "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" A dazzling beam of energy burst from each their cupped hands, joining together to make one, jumbo energy attack. Cell could only stand and watch in horror as the blast shot towards him. Before he could even cry out, Cell was disintegrated by the combined power of Goku and Gohan, father and son.  
  
Goku looked around searching for Furiza, and found him. "Piccolo!" he yelled as Piccolo slowly stood up, rubbing his head where it had smashed against a rock. "Piccolo!" Goku repeated as his Namekian friend looked up and began walking towards him. "Do you know who that Namek kid is over there? You know, the one being choked to death by Furiza?" Piccolo glanced towards Furiza, and his eyes widened in horror.  
  
"KEIICHI!" He bellowed, sprinting towards Furiza and Keiichi, "Furiza! Let him go!" Furiza quickly looked in Piccolo's direction, and began cackling quietly to himself, directing his attention back to the dying child in his grasp.  
  
As Piccolo watched his son struggling for breath, an idea came to him. Quick as a flash, he was at Keiichi's side, and he was holding Furiza's tail tightly in his grip. He raised the tail to his mouth, and bit into the tough, white skin, sinking his 'fangs' deep into the flesh. Furiza shrieked in pain, and loosened his grip from around Keiichi's throat. The young Namek fell motionless to the ground.  
  
Piccolo pulled his teeth from Furiza's tail and grabbed his son from the earth beside him. Piccolo ran, as fast as he could, caring more for Keiichi's young life than for a quick fight with Furiza.  
  
"Piccolo!" Goku cried as his friend appeared next to him. "Where have you been? Who's the kid?" But Piccolo did not answer him. He laid Keiichi down on the ground and knelt down next to him.  
  
"Come on, kiddo." Piccolo whispered, gently shaking Keiichi's tiny shoulders. "You've got to wake up." Still Keiichi did not stir. As Goku looked on, he was stunned to see a single tear roll down Piccolo's face. "Keiichi." Piccolo continued, still shaking Keiichi's shoulders. "Come on, it's OK now. I'm here now. Daddy's here." Keiichi coughed, a high-pitched, quiet little cough, and breathed a few short, fast breaths before stopping altogether.  
  
Piccolo watched in horror as his son's tiny body faded before his eyes. He had been killed, killed in an attempt to save his Daddy.  
  
"No." Piccolo cried, yet another tear pouring down his face. "KEIICHI!"  



	25. Vengeance

Chapter Twenty-Five - Vengeance  
  
Everybody spun around to look at Piccolo. Even Akumasenka stopped, curious as to what the terrible cry had been about. Piccolo merely sat, wide-eyed, staring at the spot on which his son had last lain.  
  
"Piccolo," Goku said quietly, kneeling down and placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Are you OK? Who was that kid?"  
  
"He was just a tiny kid, and Furiza killed him." Piccolo informed Goku, his voice trembling as he spoke. "He's going to pay for that."  
  
"But who was he?" Goku asked again. "I don't know who he actually was."  
  
"His name was Keiichi." Piccolo told him, ".He was my son."  
  
Goku gaped. "Your son?" he echoed, still gaping at Piccolo. "I really never imagined you with a kid." Piccolo nodded sadly.  
  
"It was Vegeta's idea." He told Goku, still not looking up. "He suggested it to me."  
  
"Vegeta?" Goku said, his eyebrows rising in shock. "Vegeta wouldn't persuade anybody to have a kid. If he had his way, he'd get rid of his own!" Vegeta scowled.  
  
"That's not true." Piccolo said firmly, slowly getting to his feet. "Vegeta doesn't show it, but he does care about Trunks. And Bulma as well." Vegeta stared at Piccolo, stunned to hear him defending him. "Now," Piccolo continued, "We have a battle to be getting on with. Remember, Furiza's mine. He killed my son, and I am going to have my vengeance."  
  
The Z Warriors rushed back into battle, Piccolo flying straight towards Furiza. "You killed him!" Piccolo yelled at Furiza as soon as he reached him. "You killed my son! You're going to pay!"  
  
"You are going to fight me, are you?" Furiza sneered, a hideous smirk on his face. "I would love to see you try."  
  
Piccolo smiled confidently. "Bring it on."  
  
Piccolo attacked Furiza mercilessly. Him and Furiza traded blows, each one powerful. Whenever one seemed closer to victory, the other would fight back with a sudden burst of power and speed. Every time Piccolo was knocked down, he instantly got back up; the memory of his son's tragic death forcing him to continue.  
  
Furiza kicked and punched Furiza with all of his might, but the changeling seemed never to tire. I'm stronger than Furiza, Piccolo thought to himself, standing up after a powerful attack from Furiza. Why am I holding back? Piccolo thought for a moment about the question he had just asked himself, and found an answer. Keiichi. Furiza had killed his son; suddenly there just did not seem to be any point in fighting anymore. Why fight when the evil kills your children anyway?  
  
Come on Piccolo, Piccolo told himself angrily, We can easily bring Keiichi back with the Dragonballs as soon as we get back to Earth. Just deal with Furiza. Make him pay for the pain he put Keiichi through.  
  
Piccolo and Furiza continued to fight, ruthlessly attacking each other with lightening fast speed and devastating power. Neither of them acknowledged the other Z Warriors fighting in the background. All of them had joined forces to beat Akumasenka, but none were succeeding. Krillen, Yamcha, Tien and Chao-zu were barely able to punch Akumasenka before they were tossed aside. Goku, Gohan, Vegeta and Trunks were not having much more luck, as they also took blow after blow, barely able to defend themselves against Akumasenka's incredible power, strength and speed.  
  
Piccolo gathered his power, and kicked Furiza as hard as he could in the stomach. The changeling fired through the air and smashed through several rocks before finally coming to a halt. Piccolo walked up to Furiza's bruised form and looked down at him in disgust. Everybody, including Akumasenka, stopped fighting and looked over to the two fighters.  
  
"This is for my son." Piccolo said angrily, and began gathering his energy while Furiza could only watch in horror. He took a deep breath, and attacked. There was a blinding flash of bright light and a deafening explosion as Piccolo fired a Special Beam Cannon, his most powerful attack, from extremely close range. After the dust and smoke had cleared, there was nothing at all remaining of Furiza.  
  
Piccolo looked at the space were Furiza had last been, took a deep breath, and went to join his fellow Z Warriors in the fight against Akumasenka.  



	26. The Four Unite

Chapter Twenty-Six - The Four Unite  
  
Akumasenka hit Goku, using merely a fraction of his strength, but still the Super Saiya-jin was hurled through the air, smashing through several large rocks as he struggled to halt himself.  
  
"Dad!" Gohan yelled down to Goku, rushing down and crouching next to his father, Vegeta and Trunks followed closely in his path. "Dad, are you OK?" Goku looked at Gohan, trying to appear as unfazed as possible after the attack. Looking up at his son's face, and the face of the other two Saiya-jins, he immediately gave up this attempt.  
  
Vegeta and Trunks looked as though they had been put through a shredder. Vegeta's clothes were torn, the cloth being burnt whenever Akumasenka fired an energy blast at him; one of the sleeves had actually been torn off during the battle. Both he and Trunks were cut and bruised, blood pouring from wounds around their eyes, nose and mouth. Gohan was the same. His face was cut and bleeding, and his left sleeve had been totally burnt away after one attack, and the right sleeve was not far behind.  
  
"We're not going to be able to beat him if we keep fighting like this." Goku said, wincing in pain as a cut on his cheek was stretched as he spoke. "If we're going to beat this guy, we need to work together, as a team."  
  
"For goodness sake, Kakarot!" Vegeta spat, looking furiously at Goku. "We are working as a team. All fighting the same adversary together" Goku shook his head.  
  
"No." He insisted, "We're not. We may be fighting the same rival, but we're not working as a team. We're just attacking whenever we get the chance. If we're going to really work together, we need to fight as one."  
  
"And just how does the wonderful Kakarot suggest we do that?" Vegeta enquired sarcastically. "Are we all going to cross our fingers and hope we become one person?"  
  
"Don't be ridiculous." Goku said seriously, "I haven't finished being taught how to do that yet. We need to combine our attacks. We need to surround him, strike from all four directions, come together, and then use all of our strongest attacks combined together as one jumbo, super-sized attack." Vegeta looked sceptical. "Trust me," Goku assured them all confidently, "It will work. Just do exactly as I say exactly when I say. Firstly, get the others away from Akumasenka - all of them." Trunks, Gohan and Vegeta all nodded, before all four Super Saiya-jins flew back to the battle.  
  
The four Saiya-jins hovered in the air, not even blinking as they glared at Akumasenka. Goku thought about his battle plan for a moment, before making his decision.  
  
"Fly around him!" He shouted to Trunks, Gohan and Vegeta. "Remember what we have to do before we can fight!" Vegeta glanced at Goku, and, for the first time in his life, he found himself feeling great respect for his fellow warrior. He shook his head angrily, and adjusted his concentration back to the battle.  
  
Gohan flew towards Krillen as fast as he could, careful not to slow down before he had to; he was no use to Krillen if Akumasenka managed to destroy him. "Krillen!" He called as he flew past. "Get away from Akumasenka! Now!" Krillen glanced after Gohan before flying away, grabbing #18's wrist as he passed her..  
  
Gohan, Goku, Vegeta and Trunks continued to fly around Akumasenka, getting their friends away from the battle as they passed. Before long, the only people near Akumasenka were the Saiya-jins themselves.  
  
"Surround him!" Goku roared once all of the Z Warriors were out of the way. Gohan, Trunks, and even Vegeta obeyed immediately. Akumasenka looked around at them all, and Goku noticed glimpse of fear in his eyes. "Attack!"  
  
The Saiya-jins attacked from all directions around Akumasenka. The Z Warriors watched in awe as they launched their assault, working together, for the first time, as a team. As one.  
  
Goku, Gohan, Vegeta and Trunks all kicked Akumasenka in the face, before kneeing him in the ribs. "Back!" Goku called after this final strike. "Get back!" The four Super Saiya-jins all backed away from Akumasenka and returned to their positions around him.  
  
"Come together!" Goku called to them, not taking his eyes off Akumasenka. Trunks, Gohan and Vegeta all moved to join him.  
  
"We need to end it." Goku whispered hurriedly to them all. "We need to end it together."  
  
"How, Dad?" Gohan asked, "We've held out this long because we've been working as a team. If one of us steps forward to destroy him, he could fight them alone. We can't finish the team now."  
  
"We're not going to finish the team." Goku revealed, "We're going to destroy him together."  
  
"How?" Trunks asked him anxiously, glancing back at Akumasenka. "If we all attack him, our attacks could hit each other."  
  
"I didn't say we were going to attack from all around him." Goku told him quietly, "We're going to attack from the same place. We're all going to aim our most powerful attacks at him, and they'll all kind of join together to make one super attack. Akumasenka won't stand a chance."  
  
"We can't do that!" Trunks cried, staring at Goku as though he was mad. "We could destroy this whole place! We -"  
  
"Kakarot's right." Vegeta interrupted, much to everybody's surprise. "Combining our attacks is the only way to destroy this monster." Trunks, Goku and Gohan stared ay Vegeta.  
  
"Fine." Trunks agreed, "If my father thinks it's a good idea, I'll do it. Let's go."  
  
The warriors turned to face Akumasenka, staying as close together as possible. Goku and Vegeta glanced at each other nervously. Vegeta nodded, and both he and Goku looked back at Akumasenka.  
  
"Ready!" Goku shouted, raising his power level as high as he could. Gohan, Trunks and Vegeta all did the same. "Wait for Gohan and me to fire our attacks. As soon as we do, you do." Goku looked at Gohan, and nodded. Both warriors once again powered up their most powerful attack.  
  
"KA - ME - HA - ME -" Trunks and Vegeta powered up fast, gathering as much of their energy as they could. Down on the ground, Bulma, Yamcha, Piccolo, Tien, Chao-zu, Krillen, #18, Sakura, Chibi Trunks and Goten all watched in silence as the Super Saiya-jins' energies blazed around them in a single frame of golden light. Rocks exploded around the HFIL, and clouds of dust circled around everybody's heads as they looked up at the battle above them. The only person not to feel the flying dust or the powerful wind was Sakura, who felt nothing but the still, stuffy air inside her dome of energy.  
  
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Gohan and Goku fired the most powerful Kame-Hame-Ha they could, and as soon as they had fired, Trunks and Vegeta fired their attacks. Goku and Gohan's Kame-Hame-Has, Vegeta's Final Flash and Trunks' Burning Attack all joined together to form one enormous, incredibly powerful beam of energy shooting towards Akumasenka.  
  
As the joint attack hit Akumasenka, the blast was so intense, nobody heard their opponent scream a sentence of disbelief: "This cannot be!"  
  
When all of the dust and smoke had cleared, there were not even ashes remaining of Akumasenka.  



	27. The Battle Is Over

Chapter Twenty-Seven - The Battle Is Over  
  
Goku, Gohan, Trunks and Vegeta slowly lowered themselves to the ground, lowering their power levels to those of regular Saiya-jins as they did so.  
  
"Vegeta!" Bulma cried, throwing her arms around Vegeta as soon as the Saiya-jins landed. "You beat him, and you didn't even get killed!"  
  
"Alright, alright!" Vegeta said irritably, pulling Bulma away from him quickly. Everybody noticed the pink tinge in his cheeks. "It's not that big a deal."  
  
"It was a big deal." Bulma said proudly, looking at Vegeta and Trunks. "You actually managed to fight with Goku without worrying about who's stronger. And, you did what he told you." Vegeta scowled at her.  
  
"Gohan!" Everybody spun around to see Sakura running towards them. "Gohan! You did it! You actually beat Akumasenka."  
  
"We all did it." Gohan corrected her happily, "We all beat him."  
  
"So," Sakura said sadly, looking tearfully up at Gohan, "Are you guys going back to Earth now?"  
  
Gohan looked around at his friends. "Yeah," He told her, "But don't worry. Give us about a day, and we'll have you back down there with us again."  
  
"Really?" Sakura asked, smiling at Gohan. "What about Keiichi? And What about your Dad?" Gohan looked sadly at Goku.  
  
"We can bring Keiichi back no problem." He told her. "But Dad's a different story. We can't bring him back to life at all."  
  
"What?" Sakura cried, "Why not?"  
  
"Because he didn't want to be brought back." Gohan said, his eyes beginning to sting. "When he first died we tried to bring him back, but he told us he didn't want to. He said that nearly all of the evil that comes to Earth comes looking for him, so he was endangering the Earth more than he was protecting it. Anyway, even if he changed his mind and decided he wanted to come back he couldn't."  
  
"Why not?" Sakura asked, getting slightly angry at all the rules that existed in the universe. "Why couldn't he come back if he wanted to?"  
  
"Because it's been too long." Goku said, stepping into the conversation. "You can only be brought back to life up to one year after your death. I've been dead for just over two years now."  
  
"It's sad" Gohan said to Sakura. "Dad and Goten have never met. Mom shows Goten pictures of him all the time, and he really likes them. He likes to touch his face. It's sad that they've never met before."  
  
"Who's Goten?" Goku asked again, looking at Gohan and Sakura.  
  
"Gohan." Piccolo shouted, standing next to Bulma's plane. "We've got to go. We need to find the Dragonballs to bring Sakura and Keiichi back to life. Let's get going."  
  
Gohan looked back at Goku. "Goodbye Dad." He said sadly, hugging Goku at last. "It's been really great seeing you again. I'm gonna miss you." Goku smiled.  
  
"I'm going to miss you too, Gohan." Goku said, smiling down at his eldest son, the only son he knew he had. "Tell your mother how much I miss her. I love you both."  
  
Gohan wiped his eyes, unable to stop the tears from splashing down his face. "Bye Dad." He said through his tears. "We love you too." With that, he ran over to the plane, ready to leave the HFIL and Otherworld at last.  
  
Goku and Sakura waved energetically as the bright yellow plane took off. Goku smiled as he watched his son and his friends out of sight. Sakura looked at Goku and bit her lip sympathetically. Goku had not met Goten. On that plane that had just left, was Goten, the son Goku had still never known. 


	28. Summon the dragon

Chapter Twenty-Eight - Summon The Dragon  
  
Over a day had passed since the Z Warriors had arrived back on Earth from the HFIL, and they were currently all piled into Bulma's bright yellow plane, heading back to Capsule Corp. with all seven Dragonballs. Gohan sat, staring out of the window, not really seeing the scenery below him.  
  
"What's up Gohan?" Bulma asked in her usual cheerful yet concerned tone. "You don't seem your usual self." Gohan looked up at her and smiled half-heartedly.  
  
"It's my Dad." He told her sorrowfully, "He never met Goten, not once during the whole time we were with him. Just before we left, he asked who Goten was, and nobody told him."  
  
"I know," Bulma told him sympathetically. "It must be hard knowing that he doesn't know about Goten, but it would be harder for him knowing that he has a son here who never even met him. At least this way it won't worry him for like the rest of eternity."  
  
"Yeah," Gohan said thoughtfully, "but what about Goten? He never met dad and he's going to ask Mom and me about him sometimes. What can we say?"  
  
"Well," Bulma said, "I would say that Trunks would be the best person to ask, you know, because he grew up not knowing Vegeta. But, I think that you and ChiChi would be best handling that one by yourselves. I don't think anything Trunks could say would help you much. It might even make matters worse."  
  
"What?" Gohan asked, taken aback, "How could it make it worse?"  
  
"Because everybody's different." Bulma explained wisely, "Whatever the me from the future said to Trunks certainly helped him survive without a father, but that doesn't necessarily mean it would help Goten. They're both entirely different people."  
  
Gohan thought for a moment, nodded, and reverted back to looking out of the window.  
  
About an hour later, the group landed roughly on the grass outside the Capsule Corp. mansion. Everybody climbed out of the plane, soothing bruised limbs and glaring at Yamcha..  
  
"Nice driving Yamcha!" Bulma said sarcastically, "Who taught you? My Mother's cat?"  
  
"Ok, ok." Yamcha said, scowling at Bulma. "Just summon the darn Dragon."  
  
"Right." Bulma said, nodding determinedly and placing the Dragonballs on the ground in front of her. She stood; her feet apart and her arms outstretched, her palms facing the Dragonballs, and recited the spell:  
  
"Eternal Dragon;  
By your name I summon you forth:  
SHENRON!"  
  
There was a flash of yellow light, and the Dragonballs suddenly glowed with an orange-gold light. As the Z Warriors watched, a twisting form of snake-like light emerged from the Dragonballs, reaching high into the sky. All over the planet Earth, the sky turned black, as though it were midnight. The light from the snake-like form dimmed, to reveal a great Dragon.  
  
The Dragon was incredibly long, so long, that it seemed as long as the great Snake Way itself, although nothing could possibly be that long. Its body was all green, except for its underbelly, which was a colour similar to ivory. Its body twisted round so much that it was near impossible to trace its entire path with your eyes. The Dragon's eyes were deep red, and there was no white in the eyes, nor was there a pupil.  
  
Shenron looked down on them all and spoke. "You have awoken me from my slumber." He rumbled, his voice so low that it seemed to shake the whole Earth. "I will grant you just three wishes. What is your first wish?"  
  
"I want you to bring Sakura back to life." Bulma shouted up to Shenron. Shenron's eyes glowed.  
  
"Wish granted." He said.  
  
Everybody looked up at Shenron, and suddenly Sakura appeared next to them. "Hi guys!" She said cheerfully. "What's going -" Sakura stopped dead, noticing Shenron for the first time. "Ok," she babbled nervously. "Don't worry; it can wait."  
  
"What is your second wish?" Shenron asked them impatiently. "I am waiting." Bulma opened her mouth to say her second wish, when she was interrupted.  
  
"Wait!" Piccolo cried, holding out a hand to stop Bulma. "If you revive Keiichi now, he'll just come back to life back in the HFIL! We won't be able to bet him back!" Bulma stood and thought for a moment.  
  
"Tell me your second wish." Shenron said loudly, making Bulma nervous. "I am waiting"  
  
"I've got it." Bulma cried, her eyes lighting up. "Shenron, can you bring Keiichi back to life please?"  
  
"Wish granted." Shenron said again, his eyes glowing once more. "What is your third wish?"  
  
"What are you doing?" Piccolo shouted, looking angrily at Bulma. "This is my son you're dealing with here! You already let him run away to the HFIL in the first place, do you have to take him there again?"  
  
"Trust me." Bulma assured him confidently. "I know what I'm doing. Shenron; would you please transport Keiichi to us please."  
  
"Wish granted." Shenron said in that same, repetitive tone. His eyes glowed red for the last time, and Keiichi suddenly appeared next to Piccolo.  
  
There was a flash of yellow light, and Shenron withdrew back into the Dragonballs. The seven Dragonballs rose into the air, blazed yellow one last time, before they separated in midair, firing miles out of sight as they were spread randomly across the land.  
  
"Keiichi!" Piccolo exclaimed, lifting Keiichi up and placing him on his shoulders. The two of them walked around for a while, before everybody went into Bulma's house for dinner. 


	29. Bulma's Proposal

Chapter Twenty-Nine - Bulma's Proposal  
  
Over a week had passed since Keiichi and Sakura had been brought back to life, and life should have been back to normal. Actually, it was anything but normal.  
  
The Z Warriors all sat in Bulma's lounge on four large sofas arranged in a box shape so that the people sitting on them could all have a group conversation. On this occasion, the Z Warriors sat watching Krillen and #18 argue over their wedding plans as they sat on the floor next to a coffee table in the middle of the four sofas. The entire tabletop was hidden beneath piles of bridal magazines, seating plans and material samples. There had been at least one argument about every item on the table. There had been arguments about seating plans, tuxedoes, flowers, speeches, bridesmaids, even an argument as to whether to have a chocolate or a fruit wedding cake. Right now, the argument was about wedding dresses.  
  
"Go away!" #18 insisted, trying to shoo Krillen away from the bridal magazines she was looking through. "You're not meant to see! Haven't you ever heard of bad luck?"  
  
"Who cares about luck?" Krillen cried desperately, "I'm really curious!" But #18 wasn't going to give in that easily.  
  
"I don't care how curious you are." She said angrily, "If you don't go away, I'm going to throw you away! Right off the darn balcony!"  
  
Bulma laughed as she watched them arguing. Neither of them meant what they were saying; that was what made it so funny.  
  
Bulma had never really thought about getting married. Her only ever serious relationship had been with Vegeta, and he didn't really seem the type to willingly walk down the aisle. Then again, Bulma thought to herself, looking at Vegeta. I've never tried asking him; have I? Bulma grinned mischievously to herself.  
  
"Vegeta," she said in as flirtatious a tone as she could without making herself sick. "I've had an idea."  
  
"What?" Vegeta asked, his attention caught by her tone. She's up to something. He thought suspiciously to himself.  
  
"Well," Bulma said, taking a deep breath and gathering courage for what she was about to suggest. "Why don't we get married some time?"  
  
Vegeta's jaw dropped, and everybody in the room went silent; even #18 and Krillen. They were all staring at Vegeta and Bulma.  
  
"What?" Vegeta croaked after a minute, his voice getting caught in his throat as he recovered from the shock of Bulma's sudden proposal.  
  
"I think we should get married." Bulma repeated, before another idea suddenly hit her. "Hey!" She cried, looking at Krillen and #18. "Why don't we have a double wedding? Nobody will have to worry about remembering two dates then, will they? What do you think? #18? Krillen?"  
  
#18 and Krillen looked at each other, gob smacked. #18 shrugged her shoulders at Krillen. "It's up to you." She told him, not wanting to be responsible for agreeing if he did not like the idea.  
  
"Yeah!" Krillen said, beaming. "That's a great idea. It'll be really fun; and besides, your loaded, it'll really make the wedding!"  
  
Bulma and #18 smiled at each other. "Great!" Bulma said, sitting down beside #18. "Do you mind if I share your magazines?"  
  
"Help yourself." #18 said, pushing them over towards Bulma. "Maybe if we're both on the case, the boys won't be able to sneak a peek at our dresses."  
  
"Or we could get them designed especially." Bulma suggested, her eyes twinkling. "It's not exactly going to be difficult to afford."  
  
"Why not?" #18 said happily, throwing the two large piles of wedding dress catalogues over her shoulder. "We'll be individual."  
  
And so it began. Bulma, #18 and Krillen sat down to discuss dresses and flowers, and Vegeta found himself being pulled over to contribute in the work. While flowers and dresses were discussed, Vegeta could only watch in wide-eyed wonder as #18, Krillen and his new fiancée planned his sudden, unexpected wedding. 


	30. The Wedding

**Chapter Thirty – The Wedding**

Bulma stood at the foot of the aisle, alone with nobody but Vegeta there. She was wearing her wedding dress, and she and Vegeta were standing hand in hand. She knew that this was her wedding, but where was the audience? Where was #18? And Krillen? And where were all of her bridesmaids and pageboys? Suddenly, bells chimed in the background. As Bulma and Vegeta looked around, the bells slowly changed into an electronic buzzing.

Bulma woke with a start and looked around her sleepily. It was ten months since she had first suggested that she and Vegeta got married, but the time had flown by. Now, the morning of the wedding had dawned. She stood up, and slammed her hand down onto her alarm clock to switch it off as she walked to the bathroom. This was her wedding day and she did not want it to be ruined by a torturing headache caused by an alarm clock.

Two and a half hours later, after a long, cold shower, Bulma stood looking at herself in the mirror, nervously smoothing down her dress. #18 stood next to her doing exactly the same thing. The hairdressers had already seen them, and now they were ready for the wedding itself.

"Are you nervous?" Bulma asked #18 after a while in an attempt to break the nerve-wracking silence.

"Yes." #18 said quickly, before looking up at Bulma. "I've done a lot of things. Flown around, destroyed people, fought in life threatening fights, been absorbed by super powerful biological androids. But nothing, absolutely nothing, has ever made me nervous. I suppose I might have got nervous sometimes before I got turned into an android, but this is the only thing to really scare me since."

"I know what you mean." Bulma said, nodding. "I mean, I haven't done any of that stuff before. I have done life-threatening things, like go off to planets where there's a crazy Saiya-jin prince who'd willingly kill us all. I'll just mention I'm about to marry that crazy Saiya-jin prince. But above all of that, this is scaring me the most."

#18 nodded, and they were both called to go down to the ceremony.

Krillen stood next to the alter, nervously looking around him. On his right stood Yamcha, who was his best man for the wedding, and next to Yamcha stood Vegeta with Trunks, who was his best man, standing next to him. As Krillen watched Vegeta, he was surprised to see him looking nervous. He was even rehearsing his vows in his head. Krillen chuckled to himself, and the music started.

Bulma stepped onto the aisle, arm in arm with her father. Sakura followed her, holding Sayoke's hand to help her walk down the aisle. Both of them were wearing identical bridesmaids' dresses. The dresses were lilac, made of silk with long, flowing skirts. They were sleeveless dresses, and they both carried a bouquet of purple and white flowers.

Behind Sakura and Sayoke were the pageboys, Trunks and Goten. They both wore identical black suits.

After Bulma's procession walked into the hall, #18 followed, her arm linked with Ox King's. Her bridesmaid, ChiChi, followed with Keiichi and Gohan following her.

The two brides and their processions reached the alter and stood next to their grooms. Bulma was wearing a pure white dress, also made of silk, with long, elegant skirts. The dress had off-the-shoulder straps around an inch wide, and the top half of the dress was studded with small pearls and diamonds.

#18 wore a similar dress. Her dress, however, had spaghetti strap sleeves with small strings of tiny beaded pearls hanging down onto her shoulders. Both brides wore a long, white veil covering their face, held on by a small diamond tiara in their hair.

The two couples said their vows, and the wedding went ahead without error. Before any of the newly-weds knew how much time had gone by, they were walking through the doors at the end of the hall, all wed at last.

Krillen stood next to #18 during the reception, his top hat slightly lopsided as he talked about the wedding. "A word of advice." He said to Yamcha. "If you ever get married, make sure a rich person helps you to organise it! It makes an amazing wedding!" Everybody laughed. At the other end of the reception hall, Vegeta and Bulma sat at the table, watching everybody celebrating the wedding.

"Well," Bulma said calmly to Vegeta, leaning her head on his shoulder. "We did it. We really got married."

"Yeah," Vegeta said. "We did."

"Do you really love me, Vegeta?" Bulma asked, still looking at her guests as she rested her tired head on her husband's shoulder.

Vegeta smiled and looked down at her. "Of course I do."


End file.
